Syabu: Man gets 10 years’ jail, 10 lashes
KOTA KINABALU: A part-time draughtsman was sentenced to 10 years’ jail and ordered to be given 10 strokes of the cane for possessing 38.04 grammes of syabu by the Sessions Court here yesterday.
Judge Ismail Brahim found Mohd Hizami Maidin, 32, guilty of a charge under Section 39A (2)(r) of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952 which provides for life imprisonment or a jail term of not less than five years and whipping of not more than 10 strokes upon conviction.
He was caught possessing the drugs nearby Hotel Yaho in Sembulan on January 11 last year at 12.15pm.
The prosecution had called 10 witnesses to testify against the accused, while the defence called two witnesses including the accused. The same court had ruled that the prosecution had established a prima facie case against the accused and called him to enter his defense on July 10.
The court ordered the accused, who was represented by counsel PJ Pereira, to serve his jail term from the date of his arrest.
During mitigation, Pereira pleaded for a lenient sentence, considering the accused - who studied architecture, had no previous conviction and that it was his first offence.
He also said that the accused had given full cooperation to the police throughout the procedure of the case.
In reply, Deputy Public Prosecutor, Aidah Fatimah said that the accused, being an architecture student before, should be considered a professional and would know how to differentiate right from wrong with such level of intelligence, and therefore be able to avoid from committing such offence.
She also asked that the rampancy and increasing number of such offence be taken into consideration, as well as the interest of the public regarding drug-related social issues.