KOTA KINABALU: A village headman's son escaped the hangman's noose but was sentenced to 11 years plus 10 strokes of the rotan to a lesser charge of syabu possession.
High Court Judicial Commissioner Wong Siong Tung imposed the sentence on Mohamad Shahrulhafizi Mohd Salleh, 27, during a decision today.
He was convicted on an alternative charge under Section 12 (2), punishable under Section 39A (2) of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952.
Shahrulhafizi had, on March 18, pleaded guilty to the alternative charge of having 78.92 grams of syabu at a car park behind a shopping mall in the Manggatal district about 12.30pm on Oct 2, 2018.
The alternative charge was offered by the prosecution after the accused's representation letter to the deputy public prosecutor's (DPP) office was accepted.
His original charge came under Section 39B (1) (a) of the same Act 1952, punishable under Section 39B (2) of the same Act, which carries the death sentence or life imprisonment and if not sentenced to death, the accused could be punished with whipping of no less than 15 strokes, upon conviction.
The accused was represented by counsel Abdul Fikry Jaafar Abdullah while deputy public prosecutor (DPP) Siti Amirah Muhammad Ali prosecuted.
Shahrulhafizi was ordered to serve his sentence with effect from the date of arrest on Oct 2, 2018.
In another High Court here, a jobless Filipino man was charged with trafficking 59.14g of syabu.
Mohd Gammar Gani, 32, was accused of committing the offence on July 8, 2021 at 10.30am behind the KFC building in Sipitang.
The undocumented man pleaded not guilty.
Judicial Commissioner David Leonard Shim fixed April 21 for case management and ordered Mohd Gammar to be further detained as the offence is non-bailable.
Counsels Shahlan Jufri, Mohd Luqman Syazwan Zabidi Md Zain and Mohd Syarulnizam Mohd Salleh represented the accused.
DPP Rozana Abdul Hadi prosecuted.