LI MOK-SHUN v. THE QUEEN

CACC001021/1977

 

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF HONG KONG

(Appellate Jurisdiction)

 

CRIMINAL APPEAL NO. 1021 OF 1977

-----------------

 

BETWEEN
	LI Mok - shun	Appellant
	and
	The Queen	Respondent

-----------------

Coram: O'Connor, J. in Court

Date of Judgment: 1st October, 1977

 

-----------------

JUDGMENT

-----------------

 

1. The appellant was convicted of trafficking in dangerous drugs, possession of dangerous drugs and resisting arrest. He appealed against conviction and sentence. I dismissed the appeal against conviction but varied the sentence on the trafficking charge by increasing it from 18 months to 2 ½ years. Briefly the facts as found by the learned magistrate were that police officers in plain clothes observed the appellant mingle with a group of some 15 to 20 persons, who appeared to be drug addicts, and saw him receive money from them. He was then seen to go with those persons to a staircase landing where the appellant handed small packets wrapped in newspaper to those persons. The police approached and revealed their identity whereupon the group scattered but the police caught the appellant who resisted arrest and escaped momentarily but was recaught and subdued after a struggle. A newspaper packet containing 0.2 grammes of a mixture containing less than 0.1 gramme of salts of esters of morphine was found in appellant's pocket as was a sum of $1475/-. The learned magistrate quite rightly concluded that the appellant had been selling such packets to the 15 or 20 persons. He had four previous convictions for drug offences the last of which resulted in 12 months imprisonment in 1966. I considered 18 months was too little for the trafficking and increased it to 2 ½ years. I did not interfere with the concurrent sentence for possession nor with the consecutive sentence for resisting arrest.

 

 

	(R. O'Connor)
	Judge of the High Court

 

Representation:

Appellant in person

Chandler, C.C., for Crown/Respondent