Kota Kinabalu: A 29-year-old man was sentenced to 13 years and ordered given 10 lashes of the cane by the High Court for having 82.17gm of syabu.
Mohd Nor Zainal pleaded guilty before Judicial Commissioner Amelati Parnell to the alternative charge under Section 12 (2) of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952, punishable under Section 39A (2) of the same Act.
Nor and his wife Nur Aqeelah Aina Farhana, 25, who was jointly charged with the original charge of drug trafficking, was on Thursday offered the alternative charge by the prosecution.
Nor pleaded guilty to the charge while Aqeelah claimed trial.
Nor admitted to having the drugs at 4pm on June 26, 2021 at the roadblock 2 area Jalan Sulaman, Manggatal.
The prosecution in tendering the facts of the case, informed the court that the police stopped a Perodua Axia and found two people inside with Aqeela as a driver while Nor was seated in the front passenger seat.
Nor pointed at the dashboard (glove compartment) when the police asked them on whether they kept any illegal items.
The police found a plastic bag stored inside the compartment, which contained three transparent plastic packets containing a crystalline substance believed to be syabu.
The substance was then later confirmed as syabu, weighing 82.17gm, said the prosecution.
Counsel Hairul V. Othman, representing the couple, requested leniency and told the court that it was Nor’s first offence and that he had repented of his mistake.
Hairul said the case occurred during the Covid-19 pandemic and Nor has no income as he lost his job at a restaurant in Kota Marudu and no company taking any workers at that time.
The couple just have a second child at that time and Nor finds any job to get some money to feed the family, said his counsel.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Azreen Yas Mohamad Ramli applied for a deterrent sentence as the case was rampant.
The alternative charge provided life imprisonment or a jail term of not less than five years and whipping not less than 10 strokes, on conviction, while the original charge under Section 39B (1) (a) of the same Act 1952 carries the death penalty.
Amelati ordered Nor to serve the jail sentence from the date of his arrest.
The court also ordered the charge against Aqeela to be withdrawn after being informed by the prosecution of receiving an instruction to withdraw the charge against her.
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