COURT: I have to sentence you for trafficking in a dangerous drug and two further counts of possession of small amounts for your own consumption.
In relation to the trafficking, you had 1,469 grammes in eight packets. You told the police that you were going to deliver those drugs for a reward of between 2 and HK$3,000. I have no real reason to disbelieve that and I will deal with you on that basis.
You will be aware that sentencing for drug trafficking is based upon guidelines which, in turn, is based upon the nature and the quantity of the drug. The drug in your case was ketamine and the amount you carried puts you in the band that starts at 1,000 grammes and attracts, after trial, a sentence of imprisonment of 14 years and upwards. At 1,469 grammes, obviously you are not at the bottom of that open-ended upper bracket.
I bear in mind that you have pleaded guilty and that will attract the full one-third discount. I also remember, though I can give it not too great weight, that you are only 23 and that the previous convictions you have are in a different range of seriousness from the trouble you are now in.
I shall take a starting point on Count 1 of 15 years. That seems to me the most modest increase I can make in the circumstances into that top bracket given the amount of drugs. The third discount results in a sentence on Count 1 of 10 years. The various small amounts of drugs you had for your own consumption on Count 2 and 3 add nothing to the gravity of the case and I shall impose no separate penalty.
The result is a sentence of 10 years.
Given the amount of the drugs, it could have been a little longer, but I have kept it to what I regard as the minimal possible in the circumstances, because I was impressed by what Mr Dunn had to say on your behalf and by the fact that you are actually paying out of your own pocket to improve yourself by a correspondence course educating you in English.
I have also read the letter that you wrote to me. It ends by saying, “I promise I will never forget every single word I wrote.” I’d like to think that would be true.