On 29 June 2013 at about 10.40 pm the police officers stopped you around the vicinity of Tung Yam Tong, Sik Kong Tsuen, Ha Mei Road, Tin Shui Wai. At that time the drugs were carried in your shoulder bag. When you were arrested for trafficking in a dangerous drug, you admitted that you were delivering the “ice” for others. The estimated total street value of these drugs was in the sum of $18,567.
Your counsel, Ms Crebbin, has, in her usual eloquent and fluent manner, mitigated on your behalf and I have taken into account everything she has had to say.
You are now 20 years of age. You just turned 20 in January, and at the time of the commission of this offence you were 19.
You have one previous conviction for unlawful sexual intercourse with a girl under the age of 16 in October last year to which you were sentenced to 5 weeks’ imprisonment. Ms Crebbin has informed me that this girl was almost turning 16 and you had, in fact, been in a relationship with her for over a year and the offence came to light as a result of her becoming pregnant, but subsequently she miscarried.
I have heard about the unfortunate situation in your family; how you had assumed that your grandparents were your parents and that your mother was in fact your sister and you recently only found out about that and this had a profound effect on your studies. You went downhill and you dropped out of school, despite you being a bright student.
You had since you left school been employed in various casual employments, but at the time of commission of this offence you were unemployed. As a result of your unemployment you were therefore tempted to deliver these drugs for the sum of $1,000 when you were asked. As you have now learnt, quick and easy money is almost always illegal or that something is quite amiss and wrong with that.
I accept, of course, through your plea of guilty and your letters, that you are remorseful for your misdeeds. You are a very young man and have committed a very serious offence. You are most fortunate to have the support of your family members.
As you will appreciate and as Ms Crebbin rightly pointed out, the strongest mitigating factor here is your plea of guilty.
The tariff sentence case for trafficking in “ice”, is that of AG v Ching Kwok Hung. You fall within the second bracket; that is between 10 and 70 grammes, a sentence of between 7 to 10 years’ imprisonment is appropriate after trial.
In view of the quantity of drugs to which you had unlawfully trafficked in, had I sentenced you after trial, I would have taken a starting point of 7 years and 6 months’ imprisonment. Giving you full credit for your plea of guilty, that sentence shall be reduced by a third and you shall be sentenced to 5 years’ imprisonment.