R. v. WONG KAM PANG

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL

1995, No. 154

(Criminal)

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J U D G M E N T

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Hon Yang, CJ:

1. This is an application for leave to appeal against sentence. The applicant pleaded guilty to a charge of trafficking in a dangerous drug and was sentenced to 7 years' imprisonment.

2. The facts of the case were simple. In the evening of 9 June 1994, the applicant was searched by the police and they found on his person a bag containing a quantity of suspected heroin. The suspected heroin turned out to be 72.02 grammes of salts of esters of morphine. It was not in dispute that the applicant was offered a reward to carry the drug from a particular place to another destination.

3. The only mitigating factor which the judge could properly take into consideration in the circumstances of the case was his plea of guilty. The applicant had a long list of convictions for drug offences starting in 1974 and ending in 1990. Bad though the record was, it is of course not a justification for increasing what otherwise would have been a proper sentence.

4. The judge in passing sentence obviously took into consideration the guideline laid down in the well known case of R v. Lau Tak Ming & Ors [1990] HKLR 370 where it was suggested that for a quantity of 50 to 200 grammes, the proper range of sentence was between 8 to 12 years after trial.

5. In our view, the starting point of 9½ years adopted by the trial judge was manifestly high, and an appropriate starting point would be 8½ years. Giving a discount of about 30% for his plea of guilty, we would arrive at a sentence of 5½ years.

6. For these reasons, the application is allowed, we treat the hearing of the application as the hearing of the appeal, we allow the appeal and reduce the sentence as indicated.

Representation:

Mr T R W Jenkyn-Jones (Messrs C K Mok & Co) for Applicant

Mr John Reading of the Attorney General's Chambers for Crown