AGC to appeal against acquittal in case of reckless driving, death of eight teens

KUALA LUMPUR: The Attorney-General’s Chambers will be filing an appeal against the acquittal of a saleswoman on a charge of reckless driving in connection with the deaths of eight teenagers on modified bicycles, commonly known as “basikal lajak”, four years ago.

Attorney-General Tan Sri Idrus Harun, when contacted, said the AGC will appeal against the ruling by the Johor Bahru’s Magistrate’s Court.

“We will file an appeal, either today or tomorrow,” he said.

Yesterday, the Johor Bahru’s Magistrate’s Court acquitted and discharged Sam Ke Ting, 26, on a charge of reckless or dangerous driving, resulting in the death of eight cyclists in Jalan Lingkaran Dalam, in Johor Bahru, at 3.20am on Feb 18, 2017.

Magistrate Siti Hajar Ali, in her ruling said that the prosecution had failed to prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt.

Siti Hajar said she also took into account the reasonable testimony of the accused that she had no knowledge of the riding activities on modified bicycles in the area and that there were no warnings of such activities.

The magistrate also found that the accused’s testimony that she was in the extreme left lane of the incident’s location in Jalan Lingkaran Dalam also concurred with the results of a study conducted by the Malaysian Institute of Road Safety (MIROS), which found that the accused’s vehicle was either driven at 44.5 kilometres (km) or 75.8 km per hour.

On Oct 28, 2019, the Johor Bahru Magistrate’s Court acquitted and discharged the saleswoman of the charge at the end of the prosecution’s case without calling to enter her defence.

However, on Feb 18 this year the Johor Bahru High Court ordered Sam to enter her defence after allowing the prosecution’s appeal.

The court held that the prosecution proved a prima facie case against the accused, thus setting aside the magistrate’s decision on Oct 28, 2019.

Sam, who at the time of the incident was 22 years old, was charged under Section 41 (1) of the Road Transport Act 1987 (Act 333) which carries a maximum jail term of 10 years and a fine of RM20,000, if convicted.

The eight victims were Mohamad Azrie Danish Zulkefli, 14 (at the time of the incident), Muhamad Shahrul Izzwan Azzuraimie, 14; Muhammad Firdauz Danish Mohd Azhar, 16; Fauzan Halmijan, 13; Mohamad Azhar Amir, 16; Muhammad Harith Iskandar Abdullah, 14; Muhammad Shahrul Nizam Marudin, 14 and Haizad Kasrin, 16. — Bernama