Drug offender spared the cane on appeal, but 12-year jail term stays

KOTA KINABALU: A man failed in his appeal for a reduction of his 12 years' jail for possessing 34.43 grams of syabu, but the Court of Appeal quashed the 10 strokes of the cane in view of his age.

The appellant, Tauimin Misluhoh, who was 48 years old when the 12 years' jail and 10 strokes of the cane were imposed on him by the lower court on November 10, 2016, was granted a stay of execution for whipping, pending his appeal.

In his second attempt to appeal against his conviction and sentence yesterday, the threemember panel chaired by Justice Dato' Mary Lim Thiam Suan, who sat together with Justices Dato' Zabariah Mohd Yusof and Datuk Vazeer Alam Mydin Meera, unanimously ruled that in view of Tauimin's age of more than 50 years now, the sentence of whipping should no longer be executed pursuant to Section 289 (c) of the Criminal Procedure Code.

However, the court also found that there was no appealable error in the decision of the High Court in affirming the conviction and sentence by the Sessions Court and the judges found that Tauimin's conviction and sentence were safe.

The 51-year-old appellant had lost in his first attempt to appeal against the Sessions Court's decision after the High Court here upheld his jail and whipping sentences on May 5, 2017.

The appellant, who was represented by counsel Dominic Chew and Luke Ressa Balang, was arrested on August 27, 2015, for possessing syabu by the roadside near Kampung Padas Baru in Manggatal.

The offence, framed under Section 39A (2) of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952, provides for a life imprisonment or a jail term of up to five years and whipping, upon conviction.