Accused warded, so case put off
Published on: Wednesday, October 11, 2017
Kota Kinabalu: The trial of the three accused in the catamaran tragedy off Pulau Mengalum here early this year was postponed to Oct 12, as one of the accused had been admitted to the hospital.Sessions Court Judge Noor Hafizah Mohd Salim granted the postponement after being informed that Chung Ket Siew @ Chung Siaw Ping, 64, was admitted on Monday at 3.08pm due to urine infection.Earlier, counsel Edward Paul, who represented Chung, told the court that after Chung undergo a check-up at the Luyang Clinic on the same day, she was hospitalised.
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The trial would be resumed at 2pm on Thursday.Chung, whose name appears on the company licence, is on trial together with his son Leong Vin Jee, 44, and skipper Sharezza Salian, 26.On Tuesday, the prosecution was supposed to recall two magistrates for cross-examination.Chung, the Director of Syarikat Golden Sailing Travel Tour and Car Rental, has four charges against her and one of the charges, she was jointly charged with Leong.
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The first charge – causing hurt to 20 Chinese tourists by permitting Leong to manage and use the boat to sea so negligently as to endanger their lives and second charge is negligently caused the death of four tourists by allowing Leong to use the boat and so loaded as to endanger human life.The third charge – Chung as the registered owner of the boat, is accused of having Sharezza as the skipper without altering and reporting the particulars of a skipper named Leong Vin Jee in the Sabah Small Ship Licence to the nearest licensing authority – Sabah Ports and Harbours Department.
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The fourth charge – she and Leong were jointly charged with failing to keep the boat licence on the passenger boat at all times. Leong has another four charges against him and two of them he was jointly charged with Sharezza.Leong is accused of causing hurt to 20 Chinese tourists by permitting Sharezza to take the boat to sea negligently as to endanger their lives and also allegedly negligently causing the deaths of the four tourists by allowing Sharezza to use the boat to sea in such as state and so loaded as to endanger their lives.For the first joint charge, Leong and Sharezza are accused of failing to keep on the passenger boat the appropriate safety equipment, the lifejackets and the life buoys as specified in the Fourth Schedule of the Ports and Harbours (Sabah Licenced Small Ships) Regulations 2008, at all times.The second joint charge – Leong and Sharezza allegedly embarked two crew and 28 passengers from an undesignated landing point - Kg Tanjung Aru Lama Jetty, here. For Sharezza, he is facing another charge of causing hurt to 20 Chinese tourists by taking the boat to sea so negligently as to endanger their lives and on the fourth count, he allegedly negligently caused the death of the four tourists as stated in Chung's second charge.All the offences allegedly took place at the Golden Sailing Travel Tour and Car Rental Sdn Bhd premises in Asia City, here, Kg Tanjung Aru Lama Jetty, waters off the Coast of Mengalum Island, off here, between 9.15am and 11am on Jan 28 this year.Leong is also facing a charge of overloading the catamaran with tourists which endangered the passengers' lives while Sharezza had served the six months' jail sentence for overloading the catamaran with tourists.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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