PUTRAJAYA: The Court of Appeal today upheld a High Court’s decision in awarding RM114, 470 in damages to part-time RTM cameraman Mohamad Amirul Amin Mohamed Amer who was injured in a shooting incident in 2016 at the Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu Highway in Penang.
A three-member bench comprising Justices Datuk Lau Bee Lan, Datuk Abu Bakar Jais and Datuk M.Gunalan, in a 2-1 majority, dismissed security company GMP Kaisar Security (M) Sdn Bhd’s appeal and ordered the company to pay RM10,000 costs.
According to Mohamad Amirul’s lawyer, Simon Murali, the court’s majority decision found no merits in GMP Kaisar’s appeal.
Justices Lau and Abu Bakar ruled in favour of Mohamad Amirul, while Justice Gunalan dissented.
The court heard the appeal on Dec 11 last year and the decision was delivered today in a proceeding conducted via zoom.
GMP Securities was appealing against the 2019 Penang High Court’s decision which held that the company should be held responsible for the injuries sustained by Mohamad Amirul as it should have ensured that the pistol provided to its employee, a bodyguard Jaafar Halid, was used in a right and responsible manner.
Mohamad Amirul, 33, filed the vicarious liability lawsuit on June 1, 2018, naming Ja’afar and GMP Kaisar as defendants.
He claimed that he was shot by Ja’afar, while trying to help an injured person, who he thought was a victim of a road accident, during the shooting incident on Dec 1, 2016.
Mohamad Amirul claimed that Ja’afar had used a Glock pistol and shot his boss dead, before firing several more shots which killed two other persons and caused severe injuries to four others, including himself.
He sought general damages, special damages for pain and suffering, aggravated damages and other relief deemed fit by the court.
On Dec 16, last year the High Court sentenced Ja’afar, a personal bodyguard, to death after finding him guilty of murdering his boss, Ong Teik Kwong, and two others in the shooting incident.
The court also sentenced Ja’afar to 15 years’ jail on each of the five counts for attempted murder, where he was charged with shooting at five individuals, including Mohamad Amirul. -Bernama
