PUTRAJAYA: A self-employed man lost his final appeal when the Court of Appeal upheld his conviction and sentence of 10 years in jail and two strokes of the cane, for committing gang robbery.
A three-judge panel, comprising Datuk Che Mohd Ruzima Ghazali, Datuk Mohamed Zaini Mazlan and Datuk Azmi Ariffin, today upheld the Sessions Court’s decision, which convicted Mohd Azwan Taleb for the crime, with the High Court affirming that decision.
Justice Che Mohd Ruzima also ruled that the 10-year prison sentence, imposed against Azwan, was fair, reasonable and not excessive.
Delivering the court’s decision, he noted that the victim was able to positively identify Azwan as the individual who robbed her.
He further emphasised that the elements of the charge had been considered by the lower courts.
On June 23, 2022, the Sessions Court sentenced Azwan, 38, and another person, Faizal Izzat Zainal Azman, 34, to 10 years in prison and two strokes of the cane each, for committing gang robbery against Nazirah Hasan Baseri, 47.
The duo stole several items, including a Honda Jazz car, RM350 in cash, an iPhone 6 Plus, and a safe box key, in front of the victim’s home in Taman Meru Perdana, Kuala Kuang, Ipoh, Perak, at 8.15 am on Sept 6, 2019.
The High Court dismissed the duo’s appeals on Dec 15, last year. Azwan proceeded to appeal to the Court of Appeal, while Faizal Izzat did not file any appeal.
Azwan’s lawyer, Raja Mohd Iskandar Zulkharnian Raja Abdul Malek argued that the victim’s identification of Azwan was doubtful.
However, deputy public prosecutor, Zander Lim Wai Keong, countered that the victim could clearly identify Azwan as the vehicle they were in approached her slowly, with non-tinted windows, and Azwan was not wearing a mask.
