Kota Kinabalu: A 55-year-old man was sentenced to a total of 30 years’ jail by the High Court, here, Thursday on two counts of drug trafficking.
Kan Cheah Jong (pic) pleaded guilty before Judge Datuk Nurchaya Arshad to the alternative charges offered to him under Section 12 (2) of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952, punishable under Section 39A (2) of the same Act.
On the first count, Kan admitted to having 265.04gm of syabu at 10.10am on Nov 16, 2016 at the entrance of the Suria Indoor Soccer Centre in Jesselton Point, here.
Kan, on the second count, pleaded guilty to having another 293.71gm of syabu at 10.20am on the same day, near a reflexology outlet in Menara MAA, here.
Nurchaya sentenced Kan to 15 years’ imprisonment for each charge and ordered the sentence to run concurrently from the date of his arrest.
The mandatory whipping sentence was not imposed on Kan due to his age, which was over 50 years old.
Earlier, Nurchaya in delivering her decision, held that the court had taken into consideration that Kan was the first offender, that the defence representation was accepted by the prosecution but at the same time, Kan was given a second chance thus avoiding the death sentence by hanging.
She also held that the offence was very serious and reflects the seriousness of the commission of these offences, particularly the weight of the drugs as separately charges.
The alternative charges, which provided life imprisonment or a jail term of not less than five years and whipping not less than 10 strokes, on conviction, were offered by the prosecution after six witnesses were called to testify in the hearing.
Kan was originally charged 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.
Counsel Dominic Chew and Luke Ressa Balang, who represented Kan applied a lenient custodial sentence to run from the date of his arrest on the grounds that he was remorseful and suffered physical and emotional pain whilst in detention.
“This has caused the accused to reflect and turn to a life of piousness and penitence,” said the defence, adding that Kan expressed his gratitude for being afforded the second chance in life and wishes to turn over a new leaf by living a religious life upon his release.
Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Rozana Abdul Hadi prosecuted.
