Family awarded RM133,000

SEREMBAN: The Government will have to pay RM133,000 in compensation to the family of a 37-year-old man who was shot dead by a policeman five years ago.

High Court judge Justice Siti Mariam Ahmad, in setting aside a decision by the Sessions Court, also ordered the Government to pay RM30,000 in costs. The ruling was made in chambers. Counsel N. Sritharan said the family of Ahmad Harfidz Abu Bakar had filed the suit, claiming police negligence.

The victim’s mother, Habibah Mahmud, 65, and brothers Ahmad Hairizal, 44, and Ahmad Hairail Adzuan, 32, had sued the Government and six others.

Ahmad Harfidz was shot after he allegedly attacked a 50-year-old police sergeant with a machete at his home in Taman Cempaka, Bahau, on Feb 8, 2011.

Then state police chief Datuk Osman Salleh had said that the sergeant had no choice but to open fire because Ahmad Harfidz had continued slashing him, even after being tasered.

The attack left the sergeant with a fractured skull and deep wounds that required stitches.

Osman had said that police received a call earlier from Ahmad Harfidz’s mother claiming that her son, who apparently had a history of mental illness, had run amok.

After the court ruling, Habibah said the family was glad that her son’s name had finally been cleared.

“It has been five long years and we are happy that he has received the justice he so deserved,” she said.