Kota Kinabalu: A 52-year-old man was jailed 12 years by the High Court, Wednesday, for having 149.51gm of syabu.
Judicial Commissioner Amelati Parnell meted out the sentence to Poniman Sumardi.
Poniman had on June 16 pleaded guilty to the alternative charge offered by the prosecution after the defence’s representation was accepted.
Poniman admitted to committing the offence at 9am on March 5, 2021 at a tyre shop in Beaufort Central.
SPONSORED CONTENT Shell’s Access to Energy helps power lives of isolated communities in Sabah Kota Kinabalu: In 2017, Sabah Shell Petroleum Co Ltd (SSPC) launched Access to Energy (A2E), a Shell Social Investment programme aimed at providing affordable and continuous supply of electricity from renewable sources for communities who live without connection to the electricity grid. Read more The alternative charge under Section 12(2) of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952 is punishable under Section 39A(2) of the same Act and carries imprisonment for life or a jail term of not less than five years and whipping not less than 10 strokes, on conviction.
Poniman was originally charged with drug trafficking under Section 39B(1)(a) of the Dangerous Drugs Act (DDA) 1952 which carries a punishment of either the death penalty or life imprisonment and whipping with a minimum of 15 strokes, on conviction.
Counsel Ram Singh together with Kimberly Ye and Chen Wen Jye, urged for a sentence of 12 years based on the sentencing trend and also confirmed to the court that Poniman is 52 years old.
In delivering her decision, Amelati held that the court also take judicial notice of the rampancy of drug cases in the country and viewed it as serious.
She ordered Poniman to serve the sentence from the date of his arrest on March 5, 2021. Poniman was spared the whip as he is over 50 years old. Deputy Public Prosecutor Rustam Sanip prosecuted.
Meanwhile, in the Magistrate’s Court, a 20-year-old man claimed trial to molesting a woman.
Rajmil Abura pleaded not guilty before Magistrate Lovely Natasha Charles to committing the offence to the 23-year-old woman at 2am on June 19, this year in a squatter house, Tanjung Lipat, KPD, here.
He was charged under Section 354 of the Penal Code.
Inspector Kelvan Elson Maik in applying for a case management date offered no bail as the accused has no identification documents.
The court set July 20 for case management and ordered Rajmil to be further remanded.
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