Ling Yiu-kay, 55, pleaded guilty to two counts of trafficking in dangerous drugs, one of which involved the minor.
In sentencing, High Court Judge Judianna Barnes Wai-ling said though Ling was not the mastermind of the drug trafficking scheme, the case was aggravated by the fact that a child was used .The judge also said that Ling committed the offense when he was on bail for another drug offense, and that most of his 15 previous convictions were drug-related.The Primary 4 girl is now in the custody of Po Leung Kuk. Her 50-year- old mother was once charged with ill- treatment, a count later dropped because of a lack of evidence.The court had heard that Ling was introduced to the girl's mother by a friend. It was alleged the mother instructed her to travel to Shenzhen on her own to collect a "gift," even though the girl said she was reluctant to do so.
Immigration records showed that from July 2007, Ling and the girl traveled together to and from Shenzhen more than 40 times. The girl traveled alone to the Lo Wu checkpoint to collect the heroin and midazolam tablets and took them back to Hong Kong in her rucksack.
