Kota Kinabalu: A former election candidate failed in her appeal against her sentence of a total of 14 years’ jail for causing the deaths of four men in Tawau and injuring another while driving under the influence of alcohol, three years ago.
Court of Appeal Justices Datuk Has Zanah Mehat, Datuk Lee Heng Cheong and Datuk Che Mohd Ruzima Ghazali on Monday unanimously dismissed Olivia Chong Oi Yun’s appeal, ruling that there was no merit in the appeal.
Earlier, the court held that there was no break in the chain of evidence and no breach of Section 45A of Road Transport Act.
“As regards to the appeal against sentence, we find that the High Court had considered all the relevant principle in sentencing, including the mitigation of appellant, and we are of the view that the sentence imposed is fair and reasonable.
“We accordingly affirmed the sentence imposed by the High Court,” held Justice Has Zanah, adding the court ordered a warrant of commitment to be issued against Chong, who was on a stay of execution of the imprisonment sentence.
Chong, 38, who works in a tourism company and was the Sri Tanjong candidate for Star in the 2013 General Election, was seen crying while walking to the court cell after the decision.
Represented by counsel Ram Singh, Chong was appealing for her conviction and sentence to be set aside as she was dissatisfied with the conviction and sentence of the High Court on Oct 25, 2019.
Chong had faced two charges under Section 44(1)(b) of the Road Transport Act (RTA) 1987 for causing death or injury while driving under the influence of alcohol.
The four whose deaths she was found to have caused were Hiew Nyuk Wei, 30; Clawence Wong Vun Kit, 21; Dicson Lim Kien Shing, 16; and Chong Wei Chan, 21, while another victim, Chin Guan Xiong, 21, suffered a broken leg.
She was charged with committing the offences while driving a Toyota Vios outside the BDC (1 Arena) Commercial Centre in Jalan Chong Thien Vun, at 1.20am, on July 8, 2018.
On the first charge, Chong was sentenced by the Tawau Sessions Court on April 30, 2019 to 10 years’ jail and fined RM20,000, or six months’ jail.
On the second count, she was ordered to spend seven years in prison and fined RM19,000 or six months’ jail in default.
The Sessions Court ordered the sentences to run consecutively and her driving licence to be suspended for 10 years.
Chong’s appeal at the High Court on Oct 25, 2019 against her conviction and sentence was dismissed but the court substituted the imprisonment sentence to eight years for the first count and six years for the second count and to run concurrently.
She was also allowed a stay of execution of the sentence pending her appeal to the Court of Appeal.
Earlier, Chong’s counsel had also appealed to the appellate court for an alternative for the court to reduce the charge to Section 43 of the RTA 1987 with no imprisonment/deterrent sentence as she, prior to her release on bail by the High Court on July 25, 2019, had served her partial jail term for about four months.
Further, Chong had paid the fine of RM20,000 and RM19,000 for the first and second charge, respectively, totalling RM39,000, said Chong’s counsel.
Together with Ram representing Chong was counsel Kimberly Ye and Chen Wen Jye while Deputy Public Prosecutor Aznee Salmie Ahmad appeared for the prosecution as respondent.
* Follow us on Instagram and join our Telegram and/or WhatsApp channel(s) for the latest news you don't want to miss.
* Do you have access to the Daily Express e-paper and online exclusive news? Check out subscription plans available.