Home | Databases | WorldLII | Search | Feedback County Court of Victoria

You are here: 

DPP v Qiu, Weiwei [2012] VCC 2058 (13 December 2012)

Last Updated: 22 March 2013

AT MELBOURNE
CRIMINAL DIVISION

Case No. CR-12-02024

---

REASONS FOR SENTENCE
---

Subject: Possess drug of dependence, in role as courier
Catchwords: Possession of 1614 gms pseudoephedrine; delivered drug from one apartment building to another; limited role; visa expired, likely to be deported; PG; prison more burdensome because of limited English and isolation.
Legislation Cited:
Cases Cited: DPP v Chen 2012 VCC 571 (Judge Howie)
Sentence: 18 months, min 8 months

---

HER HONOUR:

1 Weiwei Qiu, you have pleaded guilty to one charge of possession of a drug of dependence, namely pseudoephedrine. You played a limited part in the handling of a quantity of pseudoephedrine by delivering it to a location at the request of others in return for payment.
2 The circumstances were that on 13 February 2012, you were the subject of surveillance carried out by customs officers in Melbourne. You were observed leaving an apartment in Franklin Street carrying a large shopping bag, soon after another man had been seen carrying a box into that apartment. You then took a taxi to another apartment building in Coromandel Place, entered the apartment carrying the bag and left very soon afterwards without it. You then returned to the Franklin Street apartment.
3 About 40 minutes later, you were observed carrying a black garbage bag to the area where the garbage chute was located and returned without it. Two minutes later, you were seen carrying a large box that resembled the one that had been carried into the building earlier by an unknown man. You were assisted in carrying it by Quing Long Lim. You took the box to an alleyway alongside the building.
4 Customs officers retrieved the box and the garbage bag a short time later. The box contained a stainless steel bain marie with some wadding containing granules consistent with Contac NT. The bag contained shipping details and similar granules. The granules were later tested and found to be pseudoephedrine. The box, bag and contents were weighed and their combined weight was then compared with the weight of the box when it arrived in Australia. The difference was 4.923 kilograms. This represented a total pure quantity of pseudoephedrine in your possession of 1614 grams. I understand this would be capable of producing 286 grams of methylamphetamine.
5 You were arrested on 3 July and interviewed by the police and generally you denied knowledge of events other than what you had been seen doing. However, your instructions to your counsel were that you knew it was an illicit substance you were delivering and you did so for payment because of being in desperate financial circumstances. You were remanded in custody and have now spent 163 days in prison. I declare that as time already served to be reckoned as such and I shall note that on the court record.
6 You pleaded guilty to the charge at the committal mention, which is an early plea, and you are entitled to a discount on your sentence for having facilitated the criminal justice system process by that plea. I also accept it as an indication of remorse.
7 You are aged 22, a single man, born and raised in rural China. You came to Australia on a student visa in 2008 aged 18 but you never commenced any studies. Instead you worked as a plasterer for poor wages and sent money to your parents when you could. You found it difficult to survive on the wages you were paid and when asked to carry out this delivery, you did so because your financial circumstances had become so difficult. In doing so, you followed the instructions given to you and were paid a small amount.
8 When you were arrested at your home, police did not find any property connected with illicit drugs. It seems that you were an easy target for those needing a courier and by making the choice to be involved, you exposed yourself to the risk that brings you here.
9 I am told that your English is not good and of course your family is in China. You will be isolated in prison and the experience will be more difficult because of language difficulties. I take those matters into account.
10 Your visa ran out in March 2010 and so, at the time of your arrest, your status was that of an unlawful non-citizen. You are now on a criminal justice visa which will expire when your sentence is completed at which time the likelihood is that you will be deported. You had hoped to remain in Australia to make a future here but that is now unlikely to be possible.
11 You are a young man with no criminal history here or in China and it seems you have a good work ethic. Because of the seriousness of the charge, those matters, together with the likelihood of deportation, must be assigned less significance than in other cases but nonetheless they are indications of good prospects for rehabilitation.
12 I note the circumstances of this case are very similar to that of DPP v Chen[1], the major difference being the distance travelled by the accused man in that case who acted as a courier between Melbourne and Sydney rather than from one apartment to another in the same city as you did. The prosecution's submission in that case, as in this, as to sentencing range was for a head sentence of between 18 and 24 months and for a non-parole period of between 8 and 12 months.
13 Mr Chen had more opportunity for reflection as to his actions because of the longer distance but I am not persuaded that the difference is so significant as to produce a lesser sentence. Indeed, there are a number of other very similar cases dealt with in a similar manner, that is because general deterrence is a very important factors influencing sentence in these cases. There is an overriding need for the court to reinforce the message to the community that crimes involving illicit drugs will be dealt with severely. A sentence of imprisonment to be served immediately is the only appropriate sentence. I note that the maximum penalty is a term of imprisonment of 5 years.
14 The mitigating factors to which I have referred call for a degree of leniency just as comparable factors do in other cases and, accordingly, I will sentence you to 18 months' imprisonment with a minimum period to be served before being eligible for parole of 8 months. If you had pleaded not guilty to the charge I would have sentenced you to 2 years and 6 months with a minimum period to be service of 20 months.
15 Are there any other matters, Mr Sinnett first of all?
16 MR SINNETT: No, there's not, Your Honour.
17 HER HONOUR: Ms Bahsa, in cases where an accused person is going to straight into custody and does not understand all that has been said, it is preferable in my view for them to have a copy of the sentence so they can have another look at it later. I am going to provide that and that can be done fairly quickly. I do not know whether you are going to be still here in a few minutes' time but in any event, I will ask my associate to see if a copy of the sentence can be sent down to the custody area to go with Mr Qiu before he is taken back to prison. Thank you.
18 Thank you, Madam Interpreter. I wonder if you could explain to Mr Qiu what I just said about taking a copy of the sentence with him.
- - -

[1] 2012 VCC 571 .