Corpun file 20073

New Straits Times, Kuala Lumpur, 1 March 2008

Gardeners jailed 11 years

KUALA LUMPUR: Two gardeners escaped the death sentence when they pleaded guilty to an amended charge of being in possession of cannabis. Mohd Mazlan S. Selvam Abdullah, 45, and Zaidon Ahmad, 33 committed the offence in a room at 240, Kampung Pasir, Wardieeburn Kem, Jalan Genting Klang, here about 10.30pm on Oct 8, 2003.

A raid carried out by Sentul police uncovered 1.148kg of leaves sealed in two separate parcels. Subsequent tests at the Chemistry Department identified the contents as cannabis.

Furthur investigation revealed the house was occupied by Zaidon, and the duo owned the drugs.

Counsel Rosal Azimin Ahmad representing Mohd Mazlan said his client, a father of seven, regretted his actions and wanted a chance to rejoin society while Hanif Hashim for Zaidon, said his client, who was a 28-year-old at the time of offence, had no previous criminal record.

Hanif also said the mandatory strokes of the rotan included in the punishment was traumatising and substantiated a reduction in jail time.

Meanwhile, deputy public prosecutor Ahmad Fuad Othman urged the court not to view a guilty plea as an immediate discount.

He said the public would only be protected if the court reflected the intentions of parliament by imposing stiff penalties for drug-related crimes.

High Court judge Lim Yee Lan sentenced the duo to 11 years' jail from date of arrest and 10 strokes of the rotan.

© Copyright 2008 The New Straits Times Press (M) Berhad. All rights reserved.

Corpun file 20058

New Straits Times, Kuala Lumpur, 5 March 2008

He finally admits raping daughter

KUALA LUMPUR: After four years of maintaining his innocence, a 43-year-old general worker finally cracked in court and pleaded guilty to sodomising and raping his daughter. At the Sessions Court yesterday, judge Akhtar Tahir sentenced the father of five to 15 years' jail and 15 strokes of the cane.

The accused was charged with two counts of sodomising his then 13-year-old daughter in July 2003 and one count of incest on March 2, 2004.

His change of plea came after his defence was called at the end of the prosecution case which saw seven witnesses testify.

In his mitigation, counsel V. Ravichandran said the accused was his family's sole supporter as his wife had left him when he was 33. He earned between RM700 and RM1,000 a month.

Deputy public prosecutor Othman Yusof objected to the mitigation and urged the court to impose the maximum sentence.

The victim had complained to her school's discipline teacher after she was told by her older sister that she had seen their father rape her (the victim) in a bedroom of their house after giving her sleeping pills.

Days before his arrest, the accused had waited until the victim was alone in the house before playing a pornographic movie and asked her to emulate the scenes. He proceeded to sodomise his daughter despite her pleas to stop.

The victim related the incident to her sister later that night and approached the school's counsellor the next day.

Before sentencing, Akhtar said that the charges were serious. He ordered the sentence to be carried out concurrently from the date of arrest on March 4, 2004.

© Copyright 2008 The New Straits Times Press (M) Berhad. All rights reserved.

Corpun file 20080

Daily Express, Kota Kinabalu, 18 March 2008

Rape: Local youth gets 9 years, cane

Kota Kinabalu: A 22-year-old jobless local, who pleaded guilty to a rape charge in the midst of his hearing in the Sessions Court here Monday, was sentenced to nine years' jail and ordered to be given three strokes of the cane.

Norhasim Datu Haji Amir Husin was in the midst of trial when he informed Sessions Court Judge Ummu Kalthom Abdul Samad when the hearing resumed in the afternoon that he wanted to plead guilty to the change against him.

Norhasim is charged with raping a 20-year-old girl at 8pm on April 9, 2007 in a room of the KFC hostel in Kudat town.

He had, on April 25, 2007, pleaded not guilty to the charge framed under Section 376 of the Penal Code which carries a jail term of between five years and 20 years and liable to be whipped on conviction.

Earlier, in the morning session, the prosecution's fifth witness, chemist Rita Tie Ung Ha, told the court that there were traces of the accused's semen on the victim's panty and sarong.

The chemist, who is attached to Department of Chemistry, Kuching, was testifying on the result of the deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) analysis. The prosecution had so far called fifth witnesses since the hearing commenced on Aug 13, 2007.

According to the facts of the case presented by Assistant Superintendent of Police Sabrina Jinius, the victim lodged a police report at 3.15pm on April 10, 2007 claiming that she was raped by an unknown man at the hostel.

Investigations revealed that the incident occurred while the victim was sleeping alone. She was awakened from her sleep when she heard the door was opened and found an unknown man, Norhasim, in front of her bed.

Norhasim ordered her to be silent before he walked out and returned carrying a knife and demanded her to continue to shut up.

However, the victim screamed causing Norhasim to punch her on her chest.

A scuffle later ensued between them when the victim tried to fight and catch the knife from him.

Norhasim punched her repeatedly on her chest until she has no more strength left. He then lay the victim down on the floor, undressed her and himself and raped the woman.

Sabrina said Norhasim was arrested by police on the following day on April 11, 2007 and was identified by the victim as the man who raped her.

In mitigation, Norhasim, through his counsel George Ngui, requested for leniency saying he felt remorseful for what he had done, adding that he was drunk at the time of the incident. He said it was his first offence and promised not to commit the same offence.

Copyright © Daily Express, Sabah, Malaysia

Corpun file 20087

The Star, Kuala Lumpur, 19 March 2008

Contractor on drug charge escapes gallows

KUANTAN: A father of six escaped the death penalty after the High Court amended his original charge of drug trafficking to possession.

Justice Abdul Halim Aman found that the prosecution had failed to prove elements of drug trafficking made against contractor Tai Choo King, 40.

The original charge alleged Tai was trafficking in 100.75g of Ecstasy pills at a hotel in Jalan Wong Ah Jang on Feb 25, 2004.

Tai was sentenced to 12 years' jail and 10 strokes of the rotan.

Tai was also found guilty of a second charge of possessing 14.89g of Ecstasy pills at the same time, and was ordered to serve four years in jail and given five strokes of the rotan.

© 1995-2008 Star Publications (Malaysia) Bhd (Co No 10894-D)

Corpun file 20086

New Straits Times, Kuala Lumpur, 20 March 2008

Jail, caning for oral sex

SHAH ALAM: A 21-year-old man was sentenced to seven years' jail and ordered to receive two strokes of the rotan for forcing a 7-year-old girl to perform oral sex. Sessions judge M. Gunalan sentenced S. Kumar after he pleaded guilty to committing the offence at a house in Bandar Baru Sungai Buaya, Rawang, at 6pm on Jan 30.

Kumar, who collected donations for an old folks' home, was ordered to serve the jail term from the date of his arrest on Jan 30.

© Copyright 2008 The New Straits Times Press (M) Berhad. All rights reserved.

Corpun file 20017

Borneo Post, Kuching, 28 March 2008

Man sentenced to 12 years' jail

KUCHING: A man was sentenced a total of 12 years in jail with six strokes of the rotan for illegal possession of a homemade gun and five bullets.

Sessions Court Judge Amelati Parnell also imposed a RM2,000 fine on Loris Erang Bilong, 22, from Baram. If he is unable to pay the fine, he has to serve another two months in jail.

Yesterday Loris pleaded guilty to two charges related to illegal possession of firearm and bullets.

He was charged under Sections 8 and 4 of the Arms Act 1960 for the offence committed at 10pm early this month at a timber camp in Kota Samarahan.

In mitigation, Loris pleaded for a lenient sentence as he was the sole bread-winner for his family with his wife five months pregnant.

Judge Amelati decided on the sentence after taking into consideration the guilty plea of the offender which saved the court time and cost, the prosecution's reply, mitigating and aggravating factors as well as public interest. She also made reference to Regulations and Firearms (Increased Penalties) Act 1971 in her decision.

She said the sentence was to take effect from the date of remand, March 12 this year, in Kuching Prison pending arrangement (transfer) for him to serve in Sibu Prison.

Loris also faced another charge under Section 307 of the Penal Code for attempting to murder another person. He pleaded not guilty to the charge and the case was fixed for hearing on May 26 this year.

The judge ordered that the exhibits (gun and bullets) be returned to the prosecution for the trial proceeding of that case.