Kota Kinabalu: A 43-year-old former soldier, who claimed that he was involved in drugs due to peer pressure, was jailed five years and ordered to get a stroke of the cane for taking syabu for the third time.
Sessions Court Judge Amir Shah Amir Hassan meted out the sentence to Mohd Fazli Badrun, who pleaded guilty to the charge against him, on Tuesday.
Mohd Fazli was found taking the drug at 8pm on March 1, this year, after testing positive at the police station. He has two prior convictions.
He committed the offence under Section 15(1)(a) of the Dangerous Drugs Act (DDA), punishable under Section 39C(1) of DDA, which provides for a jail term of between five and seven years and whipping, on conviction.
The court ordered Mohd Fazli to serve the jail sentence from the date of his arrest and to be placed under police supervision for three years after completing the jail sentence.
Before handing out the sentence, the judge asked Mohd Fazli why he got involved with drugs when he was previously in the army. He told the court that he was surrounded by people did drugs.
However, Mohd Fazli said he did not blame the people around him but it was his choice to take the drugs.
The court, in meting out the sentence, agreed with the prosecution that a deterrent sentence should be imposed against Mohd Fazli in order to stop him from committing the same offence.
He hoped the sentence would also deter the public from committing the same offence.
Earlier, during mitigation, Mohd Fazli who was not represented, asked for a lenient sentence. He said he has five children and a homemaker wife, to look after.
He also promised that once released from prison, he would not repeat the offence.
However, Deputy Public Prosecutor Bryan Francis urged the court to impose a heavy sentence on the grounds that it was a serious offence.
