PUTRAJAYA: A wireman today escaped the gallows after the Court of Appeal here set aside his conviction for trafficking in 998.9g of methamphetamine and substituted his conviction with possession of the drug.
Cheah Swee Kok, 34, was instead sentenced to 18 years’ jail and ordered to be given 10 strokes of rotan after the Court of Appeal three-member bench found him guilty of possession of the drug.
His jail sentence is to run from July 20, 2014, the date of his arrest.
Justice Datuk Yaacob Md Sam, who led the bench, held that Cheah’s conviction for trafficking the drug was not safe.
“There are merits in the appeal which warrant the appellate court’s intervention against the High Court’s decision,“ he said.
The other two judges were Justices Datuk Zabariah Mohd Yusof and P. Ravinthran.
Cheah was appealing against the death sentence imposed on him by the High Court, which found him guilty of the offence.
According to the charge, Cheah was accused of committing the offence in front of a Chinese temple in Jalan Zamrud 9, Taman Pekan Baru, Sungai Petani, Kedah at 2.30pm on July 24, 2014.
His counsel R.S.N Rayer earlier submitted that there were doubts on whether there was negotiation for sale of the drugs between Cheah and an agent provocateur as the duo only met once on July 24, 2014.
He urged the court to impose a minimal jail sentence on Cheah, saying his client has been incarcerated since 2014.
“He has no previous conviction. He is very remorseful, and thanked the court for setting aside the death penalty sentence,“ he said.
Deputy public prosecutor Wong Poi Yoke said the offence committed by Cheah was serious and urged the court to take into account the weight of the drug in sentencing him. - Bernama
