Dad jailed three years, fined for hurting baby

KOTA KINABALU: A young father was jailed three years and fined RM20,000 in default six months’ jail for hitting his twomonth-old son.

Sessions Court judge Noor Hafizah Mohd Salim imposed the sentence on Syukran Hazwan Salleh, 19, after the accused’s social report was tendered to the court, yesterday.

Syukran had pleaded guilty before the judge on November 29 to a charge of causing physical injuries to the infant, who suffered a swollen left side of the face and hemorrhage in the head.

The charge under Section 31 (1) (a) of the Children Act (amended) 2016 carries a fine of up to RM50,000 or a maximum jail term of 20 years or both, upon conviction.

He committed the offence at an unnumbered house at Kampung Selupoh in Tuaran between 8am and noon on November 8.

According to the social report tendered by Welfare Department officer Jalani Majid, the accused who worked as a traffic management supervisor comes from a caring family.

Syukran’s father endeavoured to lead his son to a good life and dealt with Syukran’s drug addiction problem since the accused was in secondary school.

However, the effort had no effect on the accused, who was put under a bond of good behaviour for a conviction under the Dangerous Drugs Act, last year.

Regarding the baby, the accused claimed in the report that he did not intend to harm his son and the baby fell from his lap while he was driving when he suddenly stepped on the brake pedal.

The accused further claimed that he went looking for his wife as he was worried and angry with his wife who went out without his permission.

The welfare officer told the court that the accused was still immature in his marriage and was driven by his anger at the wife.

Therefore, Jalani suggested that community service would be inappropriate and recommended a deterrent sentence to be imposed on the accused as a lesson to prevent the accused from repeating a similar offence.

In mitigation, the accused, who was not represented, pleaded for leniency, saying he had admitted to committing the offence and promised not to repeat it.

However, deputy public prosecutor Husna Abdul Halim urged the court to impose a deterrent sentence on the grounds that the accused committed the offence against a helpless baby who is incapable of defending himself and caused the baby to suffer serious injuries.

A deterrent and long custodial sentence should serve as a lesson to the accused and the public at large.

Based on the facts of the case, the accused’s elder sister had lodged a report on November 8 that the baby was crying in pain due to bruises on his eye and head.

She brought the baby to the hospital for further inspection and the doctor disclosed that the baby was suffering from internal bleeding including broken bone on his left cheek which was believed caused by the accused.