Hong Kong man gets 8 months’ jail for drug possession in case linked to overdose death in hotel room

Principal Magistrate Ivy Tsui Yee-mei said she was convinced Liu was not an addict, with rehabilitation reports indicating his dependence on drugs at the time of the offence was due to depression triggered by the loss of loved ones.

“Reports had shown that the defendant has made significant effort to rehabilitate, and he is not drug dependent,” she said, adding that sending Liu to prison was the only option as a rehabilitation centre was not recommended.

In mitigation, the defence counsel told the court that Liu was not a chronic drug user, but he was unable to deal with the loss of his family members one after another in recent years.

“He was seeking to be clean. His depression was the catalyst for him committing the offence,” the lawyer said.

Liu had shown “serious remorse” in a handwritten mitigation letter and he had apologised to the family of the deceased, according to the counsel.

3 held in Sai Kung as Hong Kong police make biggest Ecstasy seizure in 20 years

The court had earlier heard that an autopsy and a toxicological examination confirmed the victim, Chen, 40, had adverse reactions to multiple substances found in his body, including fatal doses of methamphetamine, or Ice, and other designer drugs.

The magistrate noted that Liu had been remanded in custody for about six months before the manslaughter charge was dropped. She stressed that the hard drugs found in his possession was “one of the serious kinds of drug”.

Upon Liu’s arrest, police officers discovered three Ice bongs and two plastic bags containing crystalline solids, which were later found to contain meth, at his Ap Lei Chau home.

Hong Kong customs arrests US arrival over 1.3kg of cocaine hidden inside body

He was charged with separate counts of possessing prohibited drugs found in the hotel room and his flat respectively.

Tsui ordered Liu to serve eight months in jail with the sentences to run concurrently.

Saromines will be sentenced on Wednesday.