HCCC175/2017 HKSAR v. IBARRA COLMENAREZ YAIRIN - LawHero
HCCC175/2017
高等法院（刑事）DHCJ Bruce, SC7/8/2017
HCCC175/2017
A A
HCCC 175/2017
B IN THE HIGH COURT OF THE B
HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION
COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE
C C
CRIMINAL CASE NO 175 OF 2017
D ----------------- D
HKSAR
E v E
F
IBARRA COLMENAREZ Yairin F
------------------
G G
Before: DHCJ Bruce, SC
Date: 8 August 2017 at 11.00 am
H Present: Mr Andrew Cheng, SPP of the Department of Justice, H
for HKSAR
I Mr Phillip Geoffrey Ross, instructed by the Director I
of Legal Aid, for the accused
Offence: Trafficking in a dangerous drug (販運危險藥物)
J J
---------------------------------
K K
Transcript of the Audio Recording
of the Sentence in the above Case
L --------------------------------- L
M COURT: On 4 September 2016, at the Hong Kong International M
Airport in Hong Kong, Ibarra Colmenarez Yairin was
intercepted by officers of the Hong Kong Customs and Excise
N N
Service. She had just arrived on a flight from Manila in
the Republic of the Philippines.
O O
The suitcase that she was carrying was examined and inside
the suitcase was three boxes containing 37 foil packs of a
P mixture containing 2.98 kilogrammes of a mixture containing P
1.9 kilogrammes of cocaine. The defendant was also found
to be in possession of amounts of currency of three
Q Q
different nations of various amounts and as far as I could
see, that amounts to about $2,000.
R R
She was interviewed under caution by the Customs and Excise
Service and explained how she worked in Venezuela as a
S stylist with an income which was insufficient to support S
her family. She undertook other part-time work to
alleviate her financial position. She told the officers
T that she had become acquainted with two Brazilian men who T
offered her a free trip to Hong Kong, all expenses paid.
U Eventually, she went to Brazil where she again met those U
CRT36/8.8.2017/TW/cc 1 HCCC 175/2017(1)/Sentence
V V
A A
males and she travelled to Hong Kong via Addis Ababa and
Manila.
B B
On arrival in Manila, she stayed in a hotel for seven days.
She was given three boxes of what she was told were
C C
haircare products which would be relevant to her business
in Venezuela. She had some money with her and there was
D apparently an unsuccessful attempt to supply her with a D
further US$1,000 but somehow that did not succeed. She was
told she would receive money in Hong Kong, presumably after
E she had cleared customs and left the airport. Inquiries by E
the Customs and Excise Service confirmed the route of her
travel.
F F
The defendant was arrested at the airport and spent two
G days in the custody of the Hong Kong Customs and Excise G
Service. She was then placed before a magistrate and has
been in custody ever since.
H H
The cocaine carried by the defendant had a street value at
the time of the seizure of HK$3.3 million.
I I
The defendant is 31 years old. She is a Venezuelan
national, holding the passport of that country. She has no
J J
previous criminal record in Hong Kong. She has a son and
two daughters, as I understand it, young children. Her
K parents are quite old. She has primary school education K
and prior to her entering into this drug trafficking
venture, she worked as a hair stylist together with other
L menial jobs. I will proceed upon the basis that she has no L
previous convictions in Venezuela.
M M
A letter provided by the defendant to the court expresses
her deep regret for committing the offence. She outlines
N her family circumstances and explains in vivid terms the N
pressure she was under and which caused her to succumb and
commit this offence. She was, so she says, desperate. Her
O remorse has a number of tangible manifestations aside from O
her plea of guilty at the earliest stage. She has provided
non-prejudicial statements to the Customs and Excise
P P
Service. Apparently, the professional judgment of the
Customs and Excises Service is that these would probably
Q not be of great assistance in the direct prosecution of any Q
persons.
R More than that, she has embarked on an enterprise through R
the good offices of Father John Wotherspoon who has used
the internet to seek to persuade persons who, like the
S S
defendant, could be characterised as drug mules, not to
assist the traffickers in Africa and South America. The
T defendant has contributed to this campaign. I have the T
benefit of a letter from Father John and he records not
only the significant contribution of the defendant, but
U with her contribution and the contribution of others that U
CRT36/8.8.2017/TW/cc 2 HCCC 175/2017(1)/Sentence
V V
A A
he has recruited, there appears to be a diminution in the
number of drug trafficking mules coming to Hong Kong. In
B his very thoughtful letter, it appears to me that Father B
John accepts that it is early days yet, but there are
promising signs in this regard.
C C
Not only has the defendant participated in this effort, but
D she has enlisted family members to do so as well. This is, D
in my opinion, tangible evidence of not just remorse, but
of a determination to contribute in a meaningful way to
E stop or at least to slow down the pernicious trade of which E
the defendant was, at one time, a small cog in the system.
F It is difficult to make a meaningful comparison between F
this activity and assistance to law enforcement authorities
G because this is devoted to prevention of further crimes as G
opposed to detecting and possibly punishing those who
commit crimes. Also, it would be invidious of me to say
H that these activities are, in comparative terms, better or H
worse or even the same. Certainly, the prevention of
criminality of this kind, if it works, is a highly
I I
desirable thing and it is plain that the defendant has
contributed in a clear and tangible way to that effort.
J J
I respectfully agree with the observation of Barnes J in
HKSAR v Romero Cunas Liz Evelin [HCCC 403/2016] where
K Barnes J explicitly recognised the beneficial aspects of K
Father John’s campaign and the relevance of participation
in sentencing terms that it might have. The recognition
L had a tangible relevance of sentencing and Barnes J ordered L
a further discount of 6 months in the context of a sentence
M for trafficking in cocaine. The amount of drugs which were M
trafficked in that case was on no account as much as the
present case and the measure of that can be seen in the
N starting point of 16½ years that she adopted in that case. N
I take greatly to heart the observations of Barnes J when
she observed, at paragraph 27 of her reasons:
O O
“I am prepared, in order to give encouragement to this
P
defendant and other defendants in a similar situation, P
to regard her willingness to contribute to the campaign
[of Father John] and her effort in getting support from
Q her family to warn and discourage others who traffic in Q
dangerous drugs, as a constructive contribution to Hong
Kong society and to be treated on a par with positive
R good character for the purpose of sentence.” R
In some respects, it is somewhat invidious to start making
S S
minute comparisons of what was done in Romero (above) with
the instant case. A better approach is to look at the
T substance of what the defendant in the present case has T
done and it seems to me that that is real and tangible and,
so it appears to me, likely to continue to be so. As I
U say, Father John seems to have some cause for optimism that U
CRT36/8.8.2017/TW/cc 3 HCCC 175/2017(1)/Sentence
V V
A A
the campaign is working. In due course, I intend to
recognise this activity on the part of the defendant in a
B tangible way, by way of a reduction of sentence. B
I make the observation that continued, active, substantial
C C
participation in such programmes might - I repeat the word
“might” - well attract the attention of the Chief Executive
D of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. However, D
that is a matter for the future and very much a matter for
the Chief Executive. Nothing in these reasons can or
E should be construed as a promise or indication on behalf of E
the Chief Executive.
F Trafficking in dangerous drugs is viewed by the courts and F
the community of Hong Kong in a very serious light. That
G is especially so when those drugs are brought across our G
borders. The effects of cocaine usage are well known and
in the context of prolonged use of cocaine, none of them
H are good. That is so from two standpoints. H
The first standpoint is that of the user. The physical and
I mental harm that can be done can be very serious indeed. I
The second standpoint is that prolonged cocaine use can
J have serious consequences for the community in many cases J
because the effect is not limited to the user and services
such as hospital and medical services, often at a cost to
K the community, are often engaged in the treatment of the K
prolonged impact of the ingestion of cocaine by an
individual.
L L
The clear deleterious effect of the use of cocaine is
M
reflected in the guidelines provided by our courts for M
trafficking in cocaine and the sentencing thereof. The
source of guidelines in relation to the trafficking of
N cocaine starts with the decision of R v Lau Tak Ming [1990] N
2 HKLR 370. In Attorney General v Rojas [1994] 1 HKC 342
and R v Chang Chen Li Sa [1994] 3 HKC 685, the Court of
O Appeal declared that the guidelines in Lau Tak Ming & O
Others are appropriate for cocaine.
P P
However, the Court of Appeal in HKSAR v Abdallah [2009] 2
HKLRD 437 revised the guidelines in relation to the
Q trafficking of quantities of cocaine greater than 600 Q
grammes. HKSAR v Abdallah (above) now provides clear
guidelines for sentencing in relation to cases of
R trafficking in cocaine. R
The relevant guideline applicable to the present case is
S S
for the trafficking 1,200 grammes to 4,000 grammes. For
trafficking in that range, the Court of Appeal suggests a
T sentence of somewhere between 23 and 26 years’ T
imprisonment. Our courts have also provided guidelines to
provide consistency in sentencing in relation to the
U U
CRT36/8.8.2017/TW/cc 4 HCCC 175/2017(1)/Sentence
V V
A A
consequences of bringing dangerous drugs into Hong Kong in
quantities such as that which is found in this case.
B B
In HKSAR v Chung Ping Kun [2014] 6 HKC 106, the Court of
Appeal suggested that for quantities between 500 grammes
C C
and 1 kilogramme of drugs such as cocaine, being brought
across Hong Kong’s borders, an enhancement of between 1 and
D 2 years would be justified to reflect the fact that the D
drug which is the subject of the charge has been brought
across our borders. However, it is appropriate to note in
E that case, that is HKSAR v Chung Ping Kun (above), at E
paragraph 7, the court also observed: “Sentencing is an
art, a pure mathematical approach, even for trafficking in
F F
drugs where tariffs are provided, will ignore other
relevant considerations”.
G G
In Chung Ping Kun, the observation which plainly exercised
the mind of the Court of Appeal was that notwithstanding
H that the appellant in that case was a persistent offender H
and of relative advanced age, the court considered, given
his age and what would be the appropriate sentence for the
I I
quantity of drugs trafficked by him across Hong Kong’s
international borders, he might actually spend the rest of
J his life in gaol and that was a factor which could not be J
ignored in the disposition of his case.
K In the present case, I cannot ignore the seriousness of K
what the defendant has done. It is serious. It is more
serious because the drugs in question were brought across
L our borders. As I have already indicated, the community of L
Hong Kong regards drugs and the trafficking in them in a
M very serious light and that is reflected in the sentences M
commonly imposed by our courts.
N Against that, the history of the defendant in this case N
represents a depressingly familiar story. A woman
struggling to support herself, her children and her family.
O She was doing so in a country riven with political and O
economic difficulties. She was plainly exploited, to an
P
extent, by two Brazilian gentleman involved and was on any P
view, simply being employed as a mule. What is not clear
to me is the degree to which she approached this with her
Q eyes open. Plainly, short-term economic gain on her part Q
was a highly relevant factor.
R As a courier of dangerous drugs, she is, on one view, at R
the low end of culpability in the international drugs
trade. Against that, the trade would not survive for an
S S
instant without persons such as the defendant carrying the
drugs.
T T
Those who manufacture drugs elsewhere and those who
organised this woman to undertake the journey that she
U undertook do not lose what this woman will lose. She is U
CRT36/8.8.2017/TW/cc 5 HCCC 175/2017(1)/Sentence
V V
A A
away from her children, her parents and her family and her
community and will be for a substantial period of time
B while she serves her sentence. The injustice of all of B
this is that those people, the manufacturers, the
distributors and so on, will be pleasantly sitting at home
C C
tonight.
D Against the background of what I have just noted, trying as D
best I can to balance justice with mercy, the approach to
sentence I am adopting is as follows. The sentence I would
E have imposed before trial would have been imprisonment for E
23 years. I would have enhanced that sentence by an
additional year for the fact that the drugs were trafficked
F F
across our borders. That makes a total of 24 years. That
is the total that this woman would have received had she
G conducted a trial. G
However, she has pleaded guilty and has done so at the
H earliest practical time under the provisions of section H
80C(3) of the Magistrates Ordinance. Our courts have
consistently recognised a plea of guilty at that stage, as
I I
evidence of remorse, is worthy of a reduction in sentence
of 33 per cent. That would reduce her sentence to about 16
J years. J
I have outlined her family circumstances earlier in these
K reasons and, critically, I have noted her contribution to K
the stopping of this ghastly trade and that her
contribution is a tangible one. There is no tariff or
L guideline for such a contribution and that is probably not L
only understandable, but probably a good thing. I propose
M to take 6 months off the sentence that I would otherwise M
have imposed.
N Upon that basis, the order of this court is that the N
defendant serve a prison term of 15 years and 6 months and
that is the order of the court.
O O
P P
Q Q
R R
S S
T T
U U
CRT36/8.8.2017/TW/cc 6 HCCC 175/2017(1)/Sentence
V V
A A
HCCC 175/2017
B IN THE HIGH COURT OF THE B
HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION
COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE
C C
CRIMINAL CASE NO 175 OF 2017
D ----------------- D
HKSAR
E v E
F
IBARRA COLMENAREZ Yairin F
------------------
G G
Before: DHCJ Bruce, SC
Date: 8 August 2017 at 11.00 am
H Present: Mr Andrew Cheng, SPP of the Department of Justice, H
for HKSAR
I Mr Phillip Geoffrey Ross, instructed by the Director I
of Legal Aid, for the accused
Offence: Trafficking in a dangerous drug (販運危險藥物)
J J
---------------------------------
K K
Transcript of the Audio Recording
of the Sentence in the above Case
L --------------------------------- L
M COURT: On 4 September 2016, at the Hong Kong International M
Airport in Hong Kong, Ibarra Colmenarez Yairin was
intercepted by officers of the Hong Kong Customs and Excise
N N
Service. She had just arrived on a flight from Manila in
the Republic of the Philippines.
O O
The suitcase that she was carrying was examined and inside
the suitcase was three boxes containing 37 foil packs of a
P mixture containing 2.98 kilogrammes of a mixture containing P
1.9 kilogrammes of cocaine. The defendant was also found
to be in possession of amounts of currency of three
Q Q
different nations of various amounts and as far as I could
see, that amounts to about $2,000.
R R
She was interviewed under caution by the Customs and Excise
Service and explained how she worked in Venezuela as a
S stylist with an income which was insufficient to support S
her family. She undertook other part-time work to
alleviate her financial position. She told the officers
T that she had become acquainted with two Brazilian men who T
offered her a free trip to Hong Kong, all expenses paid.
U Eventually, she went to Brazil where she again met those U
CRT36/8.8.2017/TW/cc 1 HCCC 175/2017(1)/Sentence
V V
A A
males and she travelled to Hong Kong via Addis Ababa and
Manila.
B B
On arrival in Manila, she stayed in a hotel for seven days.
She was given three boxes of what she was told were
C C
haircare products which would be relevant to her business
in Venezuela. She had some money with her and there was
D apparently an unsuccessful attempt to supply her with a D
further US$1,000 but somehow that did not succeed. She was
told she would receive money in Hong Kong, presumably after
E she had cleared customs and left the airport. Inquiries by E
the Customs and Excise Service confirmed the route of her
travel.
F F
The defendant was arrested at the airport and spent two
G days in the custody of the Hong Kong Customs and Excise G
Service. She was then placed before a magistrate and has
been in custody ever since.
H H
The cocaine carried by the defendant had a street value at
the time of the seizure of HK$3.3 million.
I I
The defendant is 31 years old. She is a Venezuelan
national, holding the passport of that country. She has no
J J
previous criminal record in Hong Kong. She has a son and
two daughters, as I understand it, young children. Her
K parents are quite old. She has primary school education K
and prior to her entering into this drug trafficking
venture, she worked as a hair stylist together with other
L menial jobs. I will proceed upon the basis that she has no L
previous convictions in Venezuela.
M M
A letter provided by the defendant to the court expresses
her deep regret for committing the offence. She outlines
N her family circumstances and explains in vivid terms the N
pressure she was under and which caused her to succumb and
commit this offence. She was, so she says, desperate. Her
O remorse has a number of tangible manifestations aside from O
her plea of guilty at the earliest stage. She has provided
non-prejudicial statements to the Customs and Excise
P P
Service. Apparently, the professional judgment of the
Customs and Excises Service is that these would probably
Q not be of great assistance in the direct prosecution of any Q
persons.
R More than that, she has embarked on an enterprise through R
the good offices of Father John Wotherspoon who has used
the internet to seek to persuade persons who, like the
S S
defendant, could be characterised as drug mules, not to
assist the traffickers in Africa and South America. The
T defendant has contributed to this campaign. I have the T
benefit of a letter from Father John and he records not
only the significant contribution of the defendant, but
U with her contribution and the contribution of others that U
CRT36/8.8.2017/TW/cc 2 HCCC 175/2017(1)/Sentence
V V
A A
he has recruited, there appears to be a diminution in the
number of drug trafficking mules coming to Hong Kong. In
B his very thoughtful letter, it appears to me that Father B
John accepts that it is early days yet, but there are
promising signs in this regard.
C C
Not only has the defendant participated in this effort, but
D she has enlisted family members to do so as well. This is, D
in my opinion, tangible evidence of not just remorse, but
of a determination to contribute in a meaningful way to
E stop or at least to slow down the pernicious trade of which E
the defendant was, at one time, a small cog in the system.
F It is difficult to make a meaningful comparison between F
this activity and assistance to law enforcement authorities
G because this is devoted to prevention of further crimes as G
opposed to detecting and possibly punishing those who
commit crimes. Also, it would be invidious of me to say
H that these activities are, in comparative terms, better or H
worse or even the same. Certainly, the prevention of
criminality of this kind, if it works, is a highly
I I
desirable thing and it is plain that the defendant has
contributed in a clear and tangible way to that effort.
J J
I respectfully agree with the observation of Barnes J in
HKSAR v Romero Cunas Liz Evelin [HCCC 403/2016] where
K Barnes J explicitly recognised the beneficial aspects of K
Father John’s campaign and the relevance of participation
in sentencing terms that it might have. The recognition
L had a tangible relevance of sentencing and Barnes J ordered L
a further discount of 6 months in the context of a sentence
M for trafficking in cocaine. The amount of drugs which were M
trafficked in that case was on no account as much as the
present case and the measure of that can be seen in the
N starting point of 16½ years that she adopted in that case. N
I take greatly to heart the observations of Barnes J when
she observed, at paragraph 27 of her reasons:
O O
“I am prepared, in order to give encouragement to this
P
defendant and other defendants in a similar situation, P
to regard her willingness to contribute to the campaign
[of Father John] and her effort in getting support from
Q her family to warn and discourage others who traffic in Q
dangerous drugs, as a constructive contribution to Hong
Kong society and to be treated on a par with positive
R good character for the purpose of sentence.” R
In some respects, it is somewhat invidious to start making
S S
minute comparisons of what was done in Romero (above) with
the instant case. A better approach is to look at the
T substance of what the defendant in the present case has T
done and it seems to me that that is real and tangible and,
so it appears to me, likely to continue to be so. As I
U say, Father John seems to have some cause for optimism that U
CRT36/8.8.2017/TW/cc 3 HCCC 175/2017(1)/Sentence
V V
A A
the campaign is working. In due course, I intend to
recognise this activity on the part of the defendant in a
B tangible way, by way of a reduction of sentence. B
I make the observation that continued, active, substantial
C C
participation in such programmes might - I repeat the word
“might” - well attract the attention of the Chief Executive
D of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. However, D
that is a matter for the future and very much a matter for
the Chief Executive. Nothing in these reasons can or
E should be construed as a promise or indication on behalf of E
the Chief Executive.
F Trafficking in dangerous drugs is viewed by the courts and F
the community of Hong Kong in a very serious light. That
G is especially so when those drugs are brought across our G
borders. The effects of cocaine usage are well known and
in the context of prolonged use of cocaine, none of them
H are good. That is so from two standpoints. H
The first standpoint is that of the user. The physical and
I mental harm that can be done can be very serious indeed. I
The second standpoint is that prolonged cocaine use can
J have serious consequences for the community in many cases J
because the effect is not limited to the user and services
such as hospital and medical services, often at a cost to
K the community, are often engaged in the treatment of the K
prolonged impact of the ingestion of cocaine by an
individual.
L L
The clear deleterious effect of the use of cocaine is
M
reflected in the guidelines provided by our courts for M
trafficking in cocaine and the sentencing thereof. The
source of guidelines in relation to the trafficking of
N cocaine starts with the decision of R v Lau Tak Ming [1990] N
2 HKLR 370. In Attorney General v Rojas [1994] 1 HKC 342
and R v Chang Chen Li Sa [1994] 3 HKC 685, the Court of
O Appeal declared that the guidelines in Lau Tak Ming & O
Others are appropriate for cocaine.
P P
However, the Court of Appeal in HKSAR v Abdallah [2009] 2
HKLRD 437 revised the guidelines in relation to the
Q trafficking of quantities of cocaine greater than 600 Q
grammes. HKSAR v Abdallah (above) now provides clear
guidelines for sentencing in relation to cases of
R trafficking in cocaine. R
The relevant guideline applicable to the present case is
S S
for the trafficking 1,200 grammes to 4,000 grammes. For
trafficking in that range, the Court of Appeal suggests a
T sentence of somewhere between 23 and 26 years’ T
imprisonment. Our courts have also provided guidelines to
provide consistency in sentencing in relation to the
U U
CRT36/8.8.2017/TW/cc 4 HCCC 175/2017(1)/Sentence
V V
A A
consequences of bringing dangerous drugs into Hong Kong in
quantities such as that which is found in this case.
B B
In HKSAR v Chung Ping Kun [2014] 6 HKC 106, the Court of
Appeal suggested that for quantities between 500 grammes
C C
and 1 kilogramme of drugs such as cocaine, being brought
across Hong Kong’s borders, an enhancement of between 1 and
D 2 years would be justified to reflect the fact that the D
drug which is the subject of the charge has been brought
across our borders. However, it is appropriate to note in
E that case, that is HKSAR v Chung Ping Kun (above), at E
paragraph 7, the court also observed: “Sentencing is an
art, a pure mathematical approach, even for trafficking in
F F
drugs where tariffs are provided, will ignore other
relevant considerations”.
G G
In Chung Ping Kun, the observation which plainly exercised
the mind of the Court of Appeal was that notwithstanding
H that the appellant in that case was a persistent offender H
and of relative advanced age, the court considered, given
his age and what would be the appropriate sentence for the
I I
quantity of drugs trafficked by him across Hong Kong’s
international borders, he might actually spend the rest of
J his life in gaol and that was a factor which could not be J
ignored in the disposition of his case.
K In the present case, I cannot ignore the seriousness of K
what the defendant has done. It is serious. It is more
serious because the drugs in question were brought across
L our borders. As I have already indicated, the community of L
Hong Kong regards drugs and the trafficking in them in a
M very serious light and that is reflected in the sentences M
commonly imposed by our courts.
N Against that, the history of the defendant in this case N
represents a depressingly familiar story. A woman
struggling to support herself, her children and her family.
O She was doing so in a country riven with political and O
economic difficulties. She was plainly exploited, to an
P
extent, by two Brazilian gentleman involved and was on any P
view, simply being employed as a mule. What is not clear
to me is the degree to which she approached this with her
Q eyes open. Plainly, short-term economic gain on her part Q
was a highly relevant factor.
R As a courier of dangerous drugs, she is, on one view, at R
the low end of culpability in the international drugs
trade. Against that, the trade would not survive for an
S S
instant without persons such as the defendant carrying the
drugs.
T T
Those who manufacture drugs elsewhere and those who
organised this woman to undertake the journey that she
U undertook do not lose what this woman will lose. She is U
CRT36/8.8.2017/TW/cc 5 HCCC 175/2017(1)/Sentence
V V
A A
away from her children, her parents and her family and her
community and will be for a substantial period of time
B while she serves her sentence. The injustice of all of B
this is that those people, the manufacturers, the
distributors and so on, will be pleasantly sitting at home
C C
tonight.
D Against the background of what I have just noted, trying as D
best I can to balance justice with mercy, the approach to
sentence I am adopting is as follows. The sentence I would
E have imposed before trial would have been imprisonment for E
23 years. I would have enhanced that sentence by an
additional year for the fact that the drugs were trafficked
F F
across our borders. That makes a total of 24 years. That
is the total that this woman would have received had she
G conducted a trial. G
However, she has pleaded guilty and has done so at the
H earliest practical time under the provisions of section H
80C(3) of the Magistrates Ordinance. Our courts have
consistently recognised a plea of guilty at that stage, as
I I
evidence of remorse, is worthy of a reduction in sentence
of 33 per cent. That would reduce her sentence to about 16
J years. J
I have outlined her family circumstances earlier in these
K reasons and, critically, I have noted her contribution to K
the stopping of this ghastly trade and that her
contribution is a tangible one. There is no tariff or
L guideline for such a contribution and that is probably not L
only understandable, but probably a good thing. I propose
M to take 6 months off the sentence that I would otherwise M
have imposed.
N Upon that basis, the order of this court is that the N
defendant serve a prison term of 15 years and 6 months and
that is the order of the court.
O O
P P
Q Q
R R
S S
T T
U U
CRT36/8.8.2017/TW/cc 6 HCCC 175/2017(1)/Sentence
V V