Guang Chen Prison Case Summary

A Chinese immigrant who was previously sentenced to 9 years in prison with a non parole period of 6 and 1/2 years now could walk free after serving as little as 4 years time after the original sentence was cut short by the Court of Appeal.

Chen was originally sentenced to 9 years imprisonment with a non parole period of 6 and a half years following the trial on 25 May, 2014 in the County Court for one charge of attempting to traffick a drug of dependence in not less than a commercial quantity, and one charge of trafficking a drug of dependence in not less than a commercial quantity.

The appellant’s counsel, Dermont Dann, aruged that Guang Chen, 55, who appeared in the Supreme Court on Monday with his father for an appeal, was manifestly excessive.

Judge Phillip Priest and David Beach told the court that a parcel from China addressed to a “Tao Tang” in Footscray was intercepted

Chen was later seen retrieving the package from the recipient Tao Tang on 16th May 2011.

Chen’s shop was raided by the joint task force 9 days later on warrant, blister pack sachets containing 2,720 capsules of pink and yellow granules were discovered after his arrest.

Mr Dann expressed to the court that his client should have a less severe deterrence on the basis that he had showed no previous criminal records since his arrival in Australia in 1990.

He also believed that due to Chen’s limited understanding of the English language, “the burden of imprisonment would weigh more heavily on him than on the others”.

The Supreme Court listened to a statement by Chen’s psychologist, acknowledged the fact that the appellant had been dealing with reactive psychological distresses such as anxiety and depression since the arrest in 2011and had been treated with antidepressant medication as well as psychological