HKSAR v. Wong Hon Chiu
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HCCC 57/2015 IN THE HIGH COURT OF THE HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE CRIMINAL CASE NO 57 OF 2015 -----------------
--------------------------------- COURT: You have pleaded guilty and have been convicted of a single offence of trafficking in dangerous drugs, being 66.8 grammes of a mixture containing 50.2 grammes of heroin hydrochloride. Briefly, the facts are as follows. At around 8.48 am on 3 August last, police intercepted you at Tseuk Luk Street, San Po Kong, Wong Tai Sin, Kowloon. A search of your rucksack revealed a black plastic bag containing 16 transparent resealable plastic bags each containing 20 wrapped pellets of heroin. Arrested and cautioned, you admitted delivering the packets of the white powder to Wong Tai Sin just to earn $1500. In addition to the dangerous drugs, also found in your possession were $5,567 and two mobile phones. The estimated street value of the dangerous drugs was about $57,114. You admit to 57 previous convictions on 30 occasions: 17 of which involve dangerous drugs, but whilst 10 were for trafficking in dangerous drugs. From your antecedents statement, it itemises that you are Hong Kong born, 57 years of age, and educated to Form 3. You are married, and Mr Bok on your behalf has supplemented that by telling me that you also have a daughter who has written a letter to the court. You have disagreed that at the time of arrest you were unemployed, that you were, in fact, working a casual worker on a construction site in Aberdeen. I am happy to accept that. On your behalf, Mr Bok entered further mitigation. First he produced a letter from your daughter, which is a short letter but very supportive. I take that into account. He supplemented your history of employment by telling me you were earning approximately $13,000 per month, and he explained how it was you came to be carrying the dangerous drugs. You were to deliver the dangerous drugs to Wong Tai Sin. You knew that the rucksack contained dangerous drugs, but you were unaware of the large amount. Very properly, Mr Bok pointed to your cooperation upon arrest and your early plea of guilty. This being just over 50 grammes of heroin, places it within the sentencing range of 8 to 12 years. I turn now to the sentence itself. You do have an appalling record. However, that aggravating feature is to some extent balanced by the fact that you were extremely cooperate with the police upon arrest, and your early plea of guilty which you have confirmed today. That plea of guilty is the major form of mitigation. Taking all matters into account, I take a starting point in this case of 8 years’ imprisonment. To reflect your plea of guilty, you will receive the full one-third discount. You will therefore go to prison for 5 years and 4 months - that is 64 months. | ||||||||||||||||||||||