(The Standard P.4 28 Dec 2012) A 16-year-old girl who a judge said lost interest in studying after her parents divorced was jailed for more than six years after pleading guilty(承認有罪)to trafficking (非法交易) in ketamine (氯氨酮, K仔) worth HK$85,000.
In the High Court yesterday, Chow Yue-toa pleaded guilty to trafficking 590 grams of the drug in Yau Tong on June 26 and was
sentenced(被判) to six years and seven months in prison.
The defense (被告及其辯護律師) had pleaded for (請求) leniency citing (寬大引用) her age and also suggested she
was merely (僅僅) trying to earn
HK$300 to pay for a design course.
But deputy (代表) High Court judge Anthea Pang Po-kam noted that Chow was not that young
when she committed the crime (犯罪). Pang said a non-custodial sentence (沒有監禁期) may encourage drug runners to
use youngsters to commit crimes (犯罪), which would have anadverse (不利的) effect on society.
The judge thought Chow lost interest in her studies after her parents
divorced when she was about 12 and then fell in with drug traffickers (販毒份子).
On the day of the crime, a detective (偵探) stopped Chow on finding her acting
suspiciously (形跡可疑懷) outside Hong Lai House at Yau Lai Estate, Yau Tong.
Chow was found to have the ketamine in three sealed foil packages (密封的箔紙包裝) made to look
like they contained tea leaves.
Chow told the officer that two days earlier she ran into (偶遇) a man named Ah Hing in a park
near her home. She said Ah Hing, who she had known for six months, asked her to
help him traffic in drugs after finding out she was jobless.
Chow was to deliver the drugs to someone called "Ah Shen" in
Yau Tong, for which she would be paid HK$300.
The defense said Chow studied at Maryknoll Fathers' School in Sham Shui
Po until Secondary Three. Her results were good and she also went to church and
helped sell flags.
But she dropped out (退學) after her parents separated and worked as a waitress and salesgirl to
help her mother, an insurance agent who was left mentally unbalanced (處於精神上錯亂的) by the divorce.
Beatrice Siu and Eddie Luk
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