HKSAR v. Ng Ping Tak

DCCC 979/2014

IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF THE

HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION

CRIMINAL CASE NO. 979 OF 2014

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REASONS FOR SENTENCE

The defendant pleaded guilty to a charge of "Trafficking in a dangerous drug". The dangerous drug involved is heroin.

Summary of Facts

2.About 1:45 pm on 10 September 2014, PC 12175 (PW1) and his colleague saw the defendant entering the male toilet on the 3^rd Floor, San Po Kong Plaza.  They intercepted him to conduct a search.

3.Upon search, 2 transparent resealable plastic bags, each containing 25 packets of suspected dangerous drugs (E1 and E2), were found in the defendant's right front trouser pocket.  E1 and E2 were later found to contain a total of 10.35 grammes of a mixture containing 7.01 grammes of heroin hydrochloride.

4.Under caution, the defendant admitted that he was helping someone called "So Chau" to deliver E1 and E2 for a reward of $600.  In his video recorded interview, the defendant admitted, inter alia, that about   1:00 pm on 10 September 2014, he was on the 3^rd Floor, San Po Kong Plaza waiting for So Chau's call.  About 10 minutes later, So Chau called and told him to pick up E1 and E2 from a recycle bin on the 2^nd Floor.  He complied.  The defendant claimed that he did not know to where he should deliver E1 and E2.  He was arrested when waiting for So Chau's further instructions.

Mitigation & Sentence

5.The defendant is 62 and has 8 conviction records, which include 1"trafficking" offence and 3 "simple possession" offences.  That "trafficking" offence was his last conviction (dated April 2008) for which he was sentenced to 14 months' imprisonment.

6.Defence lawyer Mr. YIU informed me that the defendant is divorced and seldom contacts his ex-wife and 2 daughters.  The defendant worked as a taxi driver most of the time.  He retired in 2006 and now depends on welfare.  He would occasionally stand in for his colleagues as a substitute taxi driver.

7.In mitigation, Mr. YIU submitted that the defendant committed the present offence to feed his drug habit and that he was just a courier.  Nothing suspicious was found in his residence.

8.A clear message must be conveyed to the general public that "drug trafficking" is a serious crime and that drug traffickers would most certainly be punished by long-term imprisonment even for fresh offenders.

9.The Court of Appeal has laid down clear sentencing guidelines for trafficking in heroin (see The Queen v LAU Tak-ming & others [1990] 2 HKLR 370).  For up to 10 grammes, the sentence ranges from 2 to 5 years' imprisonment.

10.The defendant trafficked in 7.01 grammes of heroin.  For that quantity, the appropriate starting point is 4 years' imprisonment.  I make it clear that I did not raise the starting point despite the fact that this is his 2^nd conviction of "drug trafficking".  A one-third discount is given for the guilty plea, reducing the sentence to 32 months.   Apart from this, I see no other mitigating factors which warrant any further discount.  I sentence the defendant to 32 months' imprisonment.