6 Feb 2017
The court held that the magistrate's enhancement for latent risk was not justified on the facts as assessed and that the enhanced sentence was manifestly excessive; the appeal was allowed and the latent-risk enhancement was set aside, requiring reduction of the overall sentence.
30 Apr 2015
The Court held that (1) immigration/refugee status can be an aggravating factor where the offence prejudicially affects the community or Hong Kong's reputation; (2) simple possession offences can be enhanced for latent risk of dissemination and such enhancement was appropriate on these facts; (3) the judge erred in considering totality before finalizing enhanced starting points but the error was corrected by this Court which upheld individual sentences while reducing the consecutive portion to achieve a just overall sentence of 3 years 4 months' imprisonment.
19 Nov 2014
The judge erred by effectively enhancing the sentence for possession (Charge 2) on the basis of latent risk of distribution without forewarning defence counsel; on rehearing the latent risk must be disregarded and, treating the matter as possession simpliciter, the appropriate approach to starting point and concurrency yields substitution of the concurrency order so that Charge 2 bears 3 months consecutive, resulting in a reduced total sentence.