COURT: The defendant, Wong Chun-yeung, has pleaded guilty before me to a count of trafficking in a dangerous drug, namely 0.27 kilogramme of a powder containing 0.19 kilogramme of ketamine.
He has also admitted the summary of facts prepared by the prosecution. The summary reads as follows:
“On the 21st day of January 2014, police officers carried out an operation in the area of Kwai Shing Circuit Playground.
At 20.55 that date the accused, a 19 year old male, was seen near the public toilet at the playground holding a white paper shopping bag. Intercepted, a search of the bag revealed a black plastic bag containing a sealed plastic bag containing suspected dangerous drugs.
Arrested and cautioned, the accused stated, ‘Ah Sir, I agreed to help people deliver the dangerous drug ‘K Chai’ for pay of $3,000 just because I was in need of money. Ah Sir, I know this was wrong. I have not yet received the $3,000. Ah Sir, I know that helping someone to deliver this packet of dangerous drug ‘K Chai’ was wrong. Ah Sir, I know this was wrong.’
The suspected dangerous drugs were examined and found to be 0.24 kilogramme of a powder containing 0.19 kilogramme of ketamine.
The seized dangerous drugs had an estimated retail value at the time of their seizure of HK$29,280.
The accused admits and accepts he was trafficking in the seized dangerous drugs.”
The case of SJ v Hii Siew Cheng [2009] 1 HKLRD 1 set down sentencing guidelines for trafficking in ketamine. For the quantity of 50 to 300 grammes of ketamine, a starting point of 6 to 9 years’ imprisonment will be appropriate.
From the antecedents statement made by the defendant and now admitted by him before me, the defendant was born in July 1994 and when he committed the offence on 21 January 2014, he was 19 years old. He committed the offence because he wanted to make quick money. When he was caught he admitted to the police officer that he wanted to make quick money and he knew what he did was wrong.
He pleaded guilty before the magistrate and again pleaded guilty before me. He has never tried to lie his way out. This demonstrates he readily took responsibility for what he did.
During his remand and the past eight months, he has had visits from his parents and his elder brother. He and all of them have written to the court to seek leniency for him. The parents mention that he is a filial son and when he had worked and earned a monthly wage of $12,000, he contributed about half of that to his family. They all stress that he is most remorseful for what he has done and he promises that he will never commit any crime again.
I am impressed by what this man has written and the support shown by his family.
Miss Lo, on his behalf, has also urged me to be as lenient as I can be to show that the court accepts his remorse and promise which may oblige him to turn a new leaf.
Taking all the above matters into account, what I am prepared to do is to adopt a most lenient starting point, which is 7 years and three months.
Giving a full one-third discount for his guilty plea, the sentence will be 58 months; that is 4 years and 10 months. That is the sentence I pass on him.