KOTA KINABALU: A father who intimidated teachers over his son's smoking incident in a secondary school here was charged in the Magistrate Court today.
Daniel Dean Wong Kok Ching, 49, was charged with two counts of criminal intimidation and voluntarily causing hurt.
The real estate agent, however, pleaded not guilty before magistrate Stephanie Sherron Abbie.
On the first count, Wong was accused of committing criminal intimidation against a 40-year-old male teacher at the compound of the school's basketball court on Jan 29, at 9.30am.
On the second count, he had allegedly caused hurt to another male teacher aged 40 at the same time and place.
The court fixed March 7, for pre-trial case management.
The accused was released on bail of RM3,000 with two local sureties.
State Prosecution Director Nahra Dollah, Deputy public prosecutor (DPP) Azreen Yas Mohamad Ramli and Rustam Sanip prosecuted.
Counsel Lim Chun Yuan and Jo Anne Jameson represented Wong.
Earlier, Nahra offered bail of RM5,000 for both cases with two local sureties.
Lim, however, asked the bail amount to be reduced saying among others that the bail amount was only to secure his attendance and not penalise him.
He also said that the accused has a child and needs to look after his mother, as well as his family.
The accused's son was also present with his family.
Recently, the video of the accused and his son confronting the school teachers after the latter was caught smoking in the school toilet has gone viral on social media.
In another viral clip, the student was seen to have confronted the teachers.
The Form Five student, who was previously expelled from school, was allowed to return to take his Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) examination.
However, he was caught smoking on Monday (Jan 29) which led to the incident and the arrest of the accused. The son was not arrested.
Punishment for criminal intimidation, under Section 506 of the Penal Code, may include imprisonment for a term that may extend to two years, a fine, or both upon conviction.
For causing hurt, the accused is liable with imprisonment of up to one year or a maximum fine of RM2,000 or with both upon conviction under Section 323 of the Penal Code.