Ketamine trafficking: P'sula man gets death, woman freed
Published on: Saturday, October 17, 2015
Kota Kinabalu: A 27-year-old West Malaysian was sentenced to death by the High Court for trafficking 7,537gm of ketamine while his 25-year-old co-accused was freed of the charge.The case of Lai Yam Huat and Voon Ai Win came up for decision at the end of their defence before Judge Ravinthran N. Paramaguru on Friday.Ravinthran, in delivering his decision, held that although the charge against them had to do with common intention, he had given careful consideration to their individual defence.
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He held that from Lai's defence, he found that Lai did not rebut the presumption of possession on the balance of probability."In respect of the charge of trafficking, I find that you have not raised a reasonable doubt on the case of the prosecution…in the premises, I find you guilty as charged. Hence, I convict you of the offence," held Ravinthran before sentencing Lai to death.Lai was seen trying hard to keep his composure on hearing the decision, which was interpreted to him in Mandarin.Meanwhile, on Voon's case, Ravinthran found that she had rebutted the presumption of possession in respect of the element on the balance of probability.
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"I find that it is not necessary for me to go into the element of trafficking. In the premises, I acquit and discharge you of the same charge," said Ravinthran to Voon, who could hardly contain her joy.Lai and Voon were jointly charged with committing the offence at 7pm on Dec 9, 2011 at the Customs Passenger Inspection Special Unit in Terminal 1 of the Kota Kinabalu International Airport, here.
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They were on Jan 13 ordered to enter their defence to the charge under Section 39B(1)(a) of the Dangerous Drugs Act, which carries the death sentence, on conviction. Both accused, who are from Penang, opted to give their evidence under oath in their defence on March 19 this year.Soon after the proceedings, Lai, who was represented by counsel Ram Singh and Timothy Daut, was whisked away from the courtroom by Customs personnel.On the other hand, Voon, who looked overjoyed, approached her counsel Ramkarpal Singh and thanked him before joining her mother and relatives.Ramkarpal said they would make arrangements for Voon to fly back to Penang immediately.Voon managed to catch a direct flight on Friday night after Lai's counsel managed to get a check-out memo for her from the Immigration Department.During their defence, Lai testified that before their arrest, he and Voon had gone to Shenzhen, China to shop and had met with a Chinese woman, one Suzuki, whom they had got to know in Penang earlier.He said his bag was damaged and wanted to buy a new one but Suzuki offered him a bag and brought two bags which were already half-packed to him and Voon, respectively.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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