The Attorney General v. Tse Ming-muk
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CAAR000014/1974 IN THE SUPREME COURT OF HONG KONG (APPELLATE JURISDICTION) APPLICATION FOR REVIEW NO. 14 OF 1974 -----------------
Coram: Briggs, C.J., McMullin & Pickering, JJ. Date of Judgment: 30th October, 1974. ----------------- DECISION ----------------- 1. This is an application for the review of a sentence and is brought under Section 81A of the Criminal Procedure Ordinance. The respondent pleaded guilty to being in possession of 947 grammes of prepared opium for the purposes of trafficking. He was sentenced to a fine of $5,000 or six months' imprisonment. The facts are simple. 2. The appellant was stopped in the road and the drugs were found in a bag which he was carrying. On his person was also found what is described as "a set of dripping apparatus". When he was cautioned the respondent said that he was being employed at $45 per day to carry the drugs. 3. The usual penalty for an offence of this nature is a custodial sentence of from six to twelve months and counsel for the Crown directed our attention to several cases in which such sentences have been upheld on appeal recently. 4. We think that a custodial sentence is a proper sentence to pass for an offence of this nature although it may be that there are cases which can be properly dealt with by a fine. In his reasons for passing the sentence in this case the magistrate pointed out that a deterrent sentence would bring pressure on what he described "the lowest rank" of the hierarchy of the drug world only." 5. We consider that a deterrent sentence should be passed whether or not the person sentenced has played an important or minor part in a transaction concerning trafficking in dangerous drugs. In the particular circumstances of this case we granted the application of the Attorney General, but we thought it right not to make any alteration in the sentence that was passed. Representation: |