HKSAR v. Lau Chi Hang
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HCCC 153/2013 IN THE HIGH COURT OF THE HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE CRIMINAL CASE NO 153 OF 2013 -----------------
--------------------------------- Transcript of the Audio Recording --------------------------------- COURT: Defendant, you have pleaded guilty in the court below to a single charge of trafficking in dangerous drugs, contrary to section 4(1)(a) and (3) of the Dangerous Drugs Ordinance, Cap. 134, Laws of Hong Kong, the particulars being that you, on 11 December of last year, at the Lo Wu Control Point, unlawfully trafficked in 1,931.57 grammes of a solid containing 1,641.31 grammes of ketamine. The Summary of Facts that you have today confirmed quite simply establish that, on the day in question, you were stopped and searched at the Customs Control Point at Lo Wu and the drugs being the subject matter of the charge were found on you, taped to the inside of a pair of cycling shorts and also between your underpants and cycling shorts that you were wearing at the time. You were co-operative with the authorities and told them that a mainlander had asked you to bring these drugs into Hong Kong from the mainland for a reward of HK$6,000. You are 33 years of age now, married and have a young son aged 7 years of age. This is your first ever conviction of any type and it gives me no pleasure whatsoever to have to sentence you this morning. You embarked upon this illicit enterprise due to your family struggling financially as I am told you became unemployed and, out of desperation, you committed this offence. In sentencing you, I take all that has been said on your behalf into account, but the only real mitigation here is your plea of guilty for which I will give you full credit. The case of Secretary for Justice v Hii Siew Cheng, Application for Review No 7/2006 and Court of Appeal No 126/2007, has provided guidelines for the trafficking of ketamine. For quantities over 1,000 grammes, a sentence of 14 years’ imprisonment upwards is indicated on conviction after trial. In this case, the court is dealing with 1,641.31 grammes of narcotic. Accordingly, I adopt a starting point of 16 years’ imprisonment. I will discount this by one-third to reflect your plea of guilty, arriving at a sentence of 10 years and 8 months’ imprisonment. | ||||||||||||||||||||||