Director of Public Prosecutions v Yeung
[2016] VCC 824
•10 June 2016
| IN THE COUNTY COURT OF VICTORIA | Revised Not Restricted Suitable for Publication |
AT MELBOURNE
CRIMINAL DIVISION
Case No. CR-16-00423
| DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS |
| v |
| CHU LEUNG YEUNG |
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JUDGE: | HIS HONOUR JUDGE GRANT | |
WHERE HELD: | Melbourne | |
DATE OF HEARING: | 2 June 2016 | |
DATE OF SENTENCE: | 10 June 2016 | |
CASE MAY BE CITED AS: | DPP v Yeung | |
MEDIUM NEUTRAL CITATION: | [2016] VCC 824 | |
REASONS FOR SENTENCE
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APPEARANCES: | Counsel | Solicitors |
| For the DPP | Ms E. Ruddle | OPP |
| For the Accused | Mr D. Gibson | VLA |
HIS HONOUR:
1 Chu Leung Yeung, you have pleaded guilty to one charge of trafficking in a drug of dependence, namely methamphetamine, large commercial quantity.
2 I have heard a summary of your offending. It is not my intention to repeat the whole summary. It has been tendered as Exhibit A in the plea proceedings.
3 Briefly, on 11 November 2015, your vehicle was stationary at the intersection of Wattle Grove and Cairnlea Drive, Cairnlea. You were with a Mr Yeh and his behaviour attracted the attention of the police. The police questioned you and formed a suspicion that you were not telling the truth as to why you were in that location. The police searched the car and found a large shopping bag under the front passenger seat. Inside this bag the police located two large zip-lock bags containing methamphetamine. They also located six mobile phones. One of those phones contained photos of one kilogram of a white crystal substance, taken one month earlier.
4 You were arrested and denied any knowledge of the drugs found in your car.
5 The drugs were analysed on 27 November 2015. One of the bags seized contained 1,736.3 grams of methamphetamine, with an approximate purity of 87 per cent. The second bag contained 1,404.4 grams of methamphetamine, with an approximate purity of 84 per cent. In total there was 3.14 kilograms of methamphetamine.
6 When interviewed by the police, you gave evasive and non-committal answers.
7 You were charged on 11 November 2015 and you have been in custody since that date.
8 You pleaded guilty at the committal on 15 March 2016. No witnesses were required to give evidence. I am satisfied that you entered a guilty plea at the earliest opportunity.
9 Mr Yeung, you have pleaded guilty to a very serious offence. It has a maximum penalty of life imprisonment. You were in possession of a large commercial quantity of methamphetamine of high purity. The drugs had a value calculated on kilogram price of between $628,000 and $690,000. On a calculation based on gram price at street level, the value would be approximately $2,355,525.
10 In this case, general deterrence and denunciation are central sentencing considerations. By involving yourself in the movement of drugs at this level, you participated in a pernicious activity that causes great harm to our community. It is important that other people who may be tempted to act as you did understand that upon detection, such behaviour will attract a lengthy period of imprisonment.
11 I now move to matters relevant to your background.
12 You are still a relatively young man. You are 25 years old. You were born in China. Your father was unable to work after suffering an industrial accident and the family circumstances were very difficult. At the age of three, you went to live with your grandparents in Hong Kong. Your parents moved to Hong Kong when you were seven years old. Your father’s injury made him a difficult man to live with, but otherwise, your counsel told me that your family history was uneventful. You did well in primary school, but struggled at secondary school. After leaving school, you worked in various unskilled jobs. You came to Australia in April 2015 on a working visa to try and earn more money. You began working on a construction site and started to send money to your family in Hong Kong. Your counsel told me that your family needed money and you agreed to commit this offence to obtain the money they needed.
13 I now move to those matters raised in mitigation.
Your level of culpability
14
Your counsel stated that you were recruited in Sydney to act as a courier to take the drugs to Melbourne. You were promised $6,000 to perform this task. He said you were not high up in the hierarchy of offenders. Certainly there is no evidence of wealth or enriched circumstances to contradict the submission.
I am satisfied on balance that you were operating as a courier for others higher up the drug trafficking hierarchy.
15
Your counsel also submitted as a matter in mitigation that you had no prior involvement with drugs. Matters in mitigation need to be proved on the balance of probabilities. The prosecutor submitted that your unexplained possession of a phone with photos of a white crystal substance taken a month earlier than the current offending, undermined your counsel’s submission. I agree. This means that I am not satisfied on the balance of probabilities that you had no prior involvement with drugs. However, in making this finding, I do not suggest that I can use the finding as an aggravating factor on the current charge. Clearly
I cannot.
Early plea of guilty
16 I am satisfied that you entered an early plea of guilty. No witnesses have been required to give evidence and your plea has avoided the cost and expense associated with a criminal trial. I accept your plea is indicative of remorse. You will be given an appropriate sentencing discount for all these matters.
Personal circumstances
17 You are still a relatively young man and you have no criminal history. This augurs well for your rehabilitation. I accept that Imprisonment is onerous for you because you have no family in Victoria to support you. Also, you will serve your imprisonment with the knowledge that you are likely to be deported when your sentence is completed. However, on this latter point, it needs to be balanced against the fact that you were in Australia on a working visa and there was always the prospect that you would have to return to Hong Kong at the expiration of that visa. The prospect of deportation is not so onerous in this situation. In addition, if you are deported there is no great hardship, as you will return to a place where you will live with and have the support of your family.
18 Mr Yeung, will you stand please.
19 You are convicted and sentenced to seven years' and nine months' imprisonment. You are to serve five years and three months before being eligible for release on parole. I make a declaration that you have served 211 days pre-sentence detention.
20 Had you pleaded not guilty and been found guilty after trial, I would have sentenced you to a term of ten years' and nine months', with a minimum of eight years' and three months'.
21 I make the disposal order and the forfeiture order sought by the prosecution.
22 If you could just be seated there. I will just check that the pre-sentence detention is correct. It is my calculation, it may not be.
23
MR FOSTER: Your Honour, we have it now as 217 days, taking into
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24 HIS HONOUR: Two hundred and seventeen days.
25 MR FOSTER: That is correct, Your Honour.
26 HIS HONOUR: All right, I will amend the sentence to show that the period to be declared is in fact 217 days.
27 MR FOSTER: Your Honour, there's also the matter of a serious drug offender declaration under s.89DI of the Sentencing Act.
28 HIS HONOUR: Yes.
29 MR FOSTER: Which Your Honour has to make, given that he's been convicted of a serious drug offence.
30 HIS HONOUR: And so I have to make that declaration and also note that it be entered into the record of the court.
31 MR FOSTER: That is correct, Your Honour.
32 HIS HONOUR: All right, I do make the required declaration, and direct that it be entered into the record of the court.
33 Are there any other matters, Mr Foster or Ms Hession?
34 MS HESSION: No, Your Honour.
35 HIS HONOUR: No.
36 MR FOSTER: No, Your Honour.
37 HIS HONOUR: Yes. Thank you. The prisoner can be removed, and the interpreter can step down. I thank the interpreter, Ms Lui, for her attendance and assistance.
38 INTERPRETER: It's my full pleasure, Your Honour.
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