HKSAR v. Chau Shu Lam, Billy
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HCCC 389/2014 IN THE HIGH COURT OF THE HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE CRIMINAL CASE NO 389 OF 2014 -----------------
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--------------------------------- Transcript of the Audio Recording --------------------------------- COURT: The defendant has pleaded guilty to one count of trafficking in a dangerous drug, namely 5,580.89 grammes of a solid containing 4,398.55 grammes of cocaine. He has been committed to this court for sentencing. The facts reveal that the police of the Narcotics Bureau were on an anti-dangerous drugs operation, and on 10 January 2014 the defendant was seen leaving a flat on the 15th floor of Grandeur Garden, Tai Wai, New Territories. He was carrying 80 transparent plastic bags containing 1,823.78 grammes of a solid containing 1,256.08 grammes of cocaine. The defendant was arrested and under caution he admitted he was delivering the drugs to a customer. Inside the flat which the defendant had just departed from were found another lot of cocaine which was 3,757.11 grammes of a solid containing 3,142.47 grammes of cocaine. Also found inside the flat was sodium bicarbonate powder, electronic scales, cutting materials, scissors, sieves, gloves, metal forks, and spoons with traces of cocaine, amongst other things. Inquiries conducted by the police found that the defendant was the sole tenant of the flat which he had rented for a term of two years from 1 December 2013 to 30 November 2015. The street value of these drugs were estimated to be about HK$6.15 million. The defendant was interviewed under caution, and he admitted that he was trafficking in these drugs for monetary reward. The defendant is aged 58 and has a clear record in Hong Kong. In mitigation, Miss Ma has asserted on his behalf that he got into monetary trouble because he was helping out a friend who was in debt, which led to the dissolution of his marriage and thus his committing this present offence. If this is true, then the defendant owes a great debt to his family. Your family has suffered because of your stupidity. Yet his family is standing by him, and it is obvious that they came today because they cared about him. There is not any mitigation in this case, apart from the fact that the defendant had pleaded guilty at an early stage and thus saved the court’s time. The Court of Appeal has laid down guidelines in 2009 in the case of HKSAR v Abdallah [2009] 2 HKC 197 for trafficking in large volumes of cocaine. The case recommended that for trafficking between 4,000 to 15,000 grammes of cocaine a sentence of 26 to 30 years’ imprisonment as a starting point. In this case, I take into account that the background of the defendant and the facts of this case, that an appropriate starting point is 26 years. And giving the defendant credit for his plea, he gets one-third off and thus bringing the sentence down to 17 years and 4 months. So the defendant is sentenced to 17 years’ and 4 months. |