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| The Eastern Court magistrate asked how the defendant could pay for two flats |
A 39-year-old mother of six was found guilty Monday in Eastern Court, of a charge of possession of less than a gram of a dangerous drug after failing to convince the magistrate during trial that a packet of cannabis resin found in her rented room in Causeway Bay was not hers.
The defendant, M. Manrique, who arrived
in court more than half an hour late for the verdict, was calm after Magistrate
Minnie Wat Lai-man pronounced her ruling.
But Manrique broke into tears after the
magistrate ordered her detained before her sentencing on May 22 pending a
report from the Drug Addiction Testing Centre.
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| PINDUTIN PARA SA DETALYE! |
The defendant, a non-refoulement
applicant, cried uncontrollably saying no one would look after her two young
daughters, before she was led away by the court police staff.
Manrique, who had two previous cases
involving drugs, was arrested on Jan 21, 2022 by police who searched her rented
rooms in a flat at 10 Yiu Wa
Street in Causeway Bay and found a small plastic bag containing
0.6 gram of cannabis resin.
Two police officers also found
instruments used for smoking the illegal drug and resealable plastic packets for
packing them.
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| Magkano? Pindutin ito! |
During her trial last month, the two
officers gave evidence in court about their visit to the subdivided flat as
part of an ati-illegal drugs operation. They found out that Manrique was
renting two rooms, identified as Rooms A and C, for $5,500.
While the first officer, Prosecution
Witness 1 (PW1), was interviewing the defendant outside the rooms, PW2 searched
the two rooms and found the packet containing the prohibited drug in Room C.
The defendant said she was staying in
Room A and used the other room for her belongings. She denied that the drug
found in Room C belonged to her and said someone else could have placed the
stuff in the room.
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Magistrate Wat, however, said no one
else could have hidden the illegal drug in Room C as it was locked.
Besides, it took the two officers 10
minutes to wait outside the flat for Manrique to open the door and did not know
what happened inside during that period, Wat said.
The magistrate also said she had doubts
about how Manrique was able to pay for the $5,500 rent when she was receiving
just $1,800 monthly rental allowance from Social Welfare and yet was also able
to remit money to her four other children in the Philippines.
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| Pindutin para sa detalye |
Wat said the evidence given by the
police officers, in particular PWC 2 who conducted the room search, was
straightforward and credible. As such, the prosecution had proved their case
against the defendant beyond reasonable doubt.
In mitigation, the defense lawyer said
Manrique was divorced from her husband and has six children, aged between 13
and 18 years old.
Four of them live in the Philippines, while
the two younger ones were born in Hong Kong and are staying with her here. The
lawyer said one of the children had passed away.
The lawyer pleaded for a lenient
sentence, citing that the amount of cannabis resin was 0.69 gram only and that
his client’s case was possession of illegal drugs, not drug trafficking.
Wat deferred the sentencing to May 22
pending the DATC report.
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| PINDUTIN PARA SA DETALYE |
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| PADALA NA! |
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