A St Albans grocer sentenced to 25 years’ jail for drug offences has had his appeal for a lighter sentence rejected by the Victorian Supreme Court.
Suky Lieu was sentenced in June 2015 to 25 years, with a non-parole period of 18 years, for trafficking a commercial quantity of controlled drugs in Australia, and conspiracy to import a commercial quantity of heroin from Vietnam.
Mr Lieu plead guilty to trafficking methyl-amphetamine and methoxy-methyl-amphetamine (PMMA) from Sydney to Melbourne between April 6 and December 8, 2012. The drugs had a street value of more than $15 million.
He also pleaded guilty to conspiracy to import drugs. Both charges carry a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.
Lieu appealed the length of his sentence, claiming it was manifestly excessive in view of ‘comparable cases’.
In dismissing his appeal, Justices David Beach and Stephen Kaye found the sentence was not excessive given the devastating effects the drugs would have had on the streets of Melbourne.
“Substances of the kind … are an abominable social evil,” justices Beach and Kaye said.
“They have a devastating impact on lives, on families, and on communities. The importation and trafficking of drugs preys on the young, the weak, the impressionable and the vulnerable.
“The two enterprises … were despicable, and conducted for no other reason than the pursuit of large profit.”
