Youth pleads guilty to amended drug charge, fined RM3,000
KUCHING: A youth, 20, who pleaded guilty to an amended charge of possessing 51.45g of methamphetamine, was fined RM3,000 in default three months’ jail by the High Court here yesterday.
Judge Dr Alwi Abdul Wahab meted out the sentence after considering the facts of case, nature of the offence, and submissions of his counsel and the prosecution.
The youth had on Jan 11, 2021, pleaded not guilty to a drug trafficking charge under Section 39B(1)(a) of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952, which provides for the death sentence, or life imprisonment with not less than 15 strokes of the cane, upon conviction.
The youth, however, changed his plea to guilty after the charge of drug trafficking was withdrawn and amended to Section 12(2) of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952, punishable under Section 12(3) of the same Act. The Section carries a fine not exceeding RM100,000 or imprisonment of up to five years, or both, upon conviction.
The accused was 18 when the incident took place at about 3.15pm on Oct 5, 2020, at the roadside near a factory at Jalan Genesis Industrial Park II, Sungai Moyan here.
Based on the facts of the case, the Padawan Narcotics Crime Investigation Division (NCID) arrested the accused who was riding a motorcycle on the day of the incident, on suspicion of involvement in drug activities.
Found on him was a black plastic bag containing crystalline substance suspected to be methamphetamine.
The substance was confirmed to be methamphetamine weighing 51.45g when it was tested at the Chemistry Department here on Oct 7, 2020.
DPP Ronie Entili requested the court to impose an appropriate sentence because drug abuse cases in the country had become more serious and widespread.
Defence counsel Osman Ibrahim, however, urged the court to consider several factors such as the accused’s guilty plea to the amended charge, that it was his first offence, that he regretted the act, and the accused’s promise not to repeat the crime.
“The accused has been remanded from Oct 5, 2020 to April 13, 2022 while waiting for the case to be mentioned in court.
“The waiting period has put tremendous pressure on the accused and his family, besides giving him a bitter lesson,” said Osman.
He added that the accused was charged under Section 12(2) of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952, which allows for a fine to be imposed on the offender instead of a jail term.
Osman also said the charge under that Section was not so serious so as to justify imprisonment as the first option in sentencing the accused.