HCCC420/2024

HCCC420/2024

A HCCC 420/2024 A [2026] HKCFI 892 B IN THE HIGH COURT OF THE B HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE C C CRIMINAL CASE NO 420 OF 2024 D ----------------- D HKSAR E E v F F Lau Hing G ------------------ G Before: Hon Andrew Chan J H Date: 5 January 2026 at 10.20 am H Present: Ms Grace Au, SPP(Ag) of the Department of Justice, for I HKSAR I Mr David A S Khosa, instructed by Chan Lawyers, assigned by DLA, for the accused J Offence: (1) Dangerous driving (危險駕駛) J (2) Obstructing police officers (阻撓警務人員) K (3) Trafficking in a dangerous drug (販運危險藥物) K --------------------------------- L Transcript of the Audio Recording L of the Sentence in the above Case --------------------------------- M M COURT: The defendant has pleaded guilty to one count of N dangerous driving, contrary to section 37 of the Road N Traffic Ordinance; one count of obstructing police officers, contrary to section 36(b) of the Offences Against the Person O Ordinance; and one count of trafficking in a dangerous drug, O contrary to section 4 of the Dangerous Drugs Ordinance. He is committed to this court for sentence. P P In the evening on 22 July 2023, the defendant illegally Q stopped his car at Tong Ming Street, Tseung Kwan O. When Q police officers approached the defendant’s car with a view to issue a traffic ticket, the defendant tried to flee the R scene. The rear mirror of his car hit one of the police R officers, causing an abrasion on his hand. S S The defendant drove away at high speed and disobeyed traffic lights. He managed to escape and was out of the police T sight for a while. The speed was so high that ultimately, T the defendant crashed his car into one lamppost at Po Hong Road with its windscreen completely broken and airbag U inflated. The defendant was found lying on the ground and U CRT23/5.1.2026/CSY 1 HCCC 420/2024(2)/Sentence V V A sustaining multiple injuries. He was then taken to hospital A by ambulance. B A search of the defendant’s car yielded 21.52 grammes of B methamphetamine hydrochloride. The street value of the methamphetamine was estimated to be over HK$12,000. C C The defendant is now 31, educated up to Form 2 level. Prior D to his arrest, he worked as a warehouse attendant, making D $15,000 a month. And the defendant has 12 criminal records, including multiple offences. In particular, he has one E trafficking in a dangerous drug, one assaulting police E officer and one dangerous-driving record. F F Right. I first deal with the more serious one, ie Count 3. A starting point for trafficking in 21.52 grammes of G methamphetamine based on quantity alone would be one of G 7 years and 9 months’ imprisonment. Without further evidence pointing to otherwise, the defendant will be H treated as a simple courier at the night. This, as pointed H out, is not his first trafficking record. As such, the I sentence will be increased by 6 months to one of 8 years and I 3 months’ imprisonment. After a plea, the sentence is therefore reduced to one of 66 months’ imprisonment. J J As to the 1st count of, right, dangerous driving, this is his second conviction according to the criminal record. He K was fined $2,500 and disqualified for 6 months in respect of K his first conviction in November 2024. The offence day was L 10 July 2023, a date pre-dated the present case. It was L only 12 days before the present case. Right. This time, it was a much more serious dangerous driving. Right. The M defendant drove not only in high speed but also disobeyed M traffic light and crashed seriously onto a lamppost. So he was driving in complete disregard of the safety of other N road users, be they the pedestrians or other vehicle N drivers. His manner of driving posed a dangerous and O significant risk to the safety of other road users. O Fortunately, on this occasion, no other road user was injured. P P Because of the defendant’s frequent disregard of traffic regulations, the starting point for this dangerous driving Q Q would be fixed at 9 months’ imprisonment. After a plea, the sentence is reduced to 6 months’ imprisonment. It is R ordered that the defendant be disqualified for a period of R 5 years from holding or obtaining a driving licence after he is released from prison. S S As stated in the Summary of Facts of the first conviction, the defendant was dangerously driving on that occasion. He T T was crossing a double white line and was driving on the opposite lane of the road in question. On this occasion, as U mentioned, traffic lights and traffic markings were only, in U CRT23/5.1.2026/CSY 2 HCCC 420/2024(2)/Sentence V V A my view, optional to the defendant. They were all A meaningless to the defendant. As such, it is further ordered that the defendant be disqualified until he has B passed the driving test again. B As to the obstruction charge, this again is his second C C record, the last one in 2010, assaulting a police officer under the same provision of the same ordinance. Given the D minor injuries sustained by the police officer, the starting D point on this occasion would be one of 3 months’ imprisonment. On a plea, the sentence is reduced to E 2 months’ imprisonment. E After a careful consideration of the circumstances of the F F case, in particular, the manner in which the three offences were committed, it is ordered that all sentences are to run G consecutively to each other, thus making a total of G 74 months’ imprisonment. For the three counts of offences that the defendant stands convicted, he is therefore H sentenced to a total of 74 months’ imprisonment. H I I I/we certify that to the best of my/our ability J J and skill, the foregoing is a true transcript of the audio recording of the above proceedings. K K L ............................................... L Chan Shuk Ying Susanna Date: 14 January 2026 M M N N O O P P Q Q R R S S T T U U CRT23/5.1.2026/CSY 3 HCCC 420/2024(2)/Sentence V V