PUTRAJAYA: The Court of Appeal has reduced a contractor's jail sentence to 10 years from 12, and ordered him to be whipped six times instead of 10, for causing grievous hurt to his uncles.
Nik Muhammad Syafir Mat Rof, 29, was imposed the initial sentence by the Sessions Court on two charges of voluntarily causing grievous hurt.
He was sentenced to 12 years' jail and five strokes of the cane for each charge, with the jail terms to run concurrently.
Nik Muhammad Syafir's conviction and sentence were upheld by the High Court, after which he appealed to the Court of Appeal to lower his jail and whipping sentence.
On Wednesday (April 12), the Court of Appeal's three-member panel consisting of Justices Datuk Hanipah Farikullah, Datuk Ahmad Zaidi Ibrahim and Datuk Azman Abdullah allowed Nik Muhammad Syafir's appeal to have his sentence reduced.
Justice Hanipah, who delivered the decision, said the jail and whipping were manifestly excessive.
On April 30, 2019, the Sessions Court found Nik Muhammad Syafir and his cousin, Muhamad Pazir Yahya, 41, also a contractor, guilty of two charges of voluntarily causing grievous hurt to bus driver Nik Rosdi Abdullah, 43, and contractor Nik Rohimi Abdullah, 27.
According to the facts of the case, the duo and six others assaulted Nik Rosdi and Nik Rohimi using a sword and iron rod at Kampung Gong Pasir in Pasir Putih, Kelantan at 5pm on Sept 20, 2017.
Meanwhile, Justice Hanipah issued a warrant of arrest against Muhamad Pazir who failed to turn up in court for his appeal hearing against his conviction and jail sentence.
She also ordered Muhamad Pazir's bailor to show cause for not attending Wednesday's proceedings.
The court then fixed May 22 for the next appeal hearing and also for mention of the warrant of arrest and for the bailor to show cause.
Earlier, Nik Muhammad Syafir's lawyer Cheah Poh Loon asked the court for a reduced jail term, saying that the facts of the case showed the incident involved a group of persons, including six others still at large, who attacked the victims over a misunderstanding.
Deputy public prosecutor Khairul Aisamuddin Abdul Rahman, however, asked the court to maintain the 12-year jail term as the injuries sustained by the victims were serious.
He also referred to a case law authority Azman Bin Din vs Public Prosecutor where a Court of Appeal three-member panel upheld a 12-year jail sentence and RM10,000 fine for a similar offence. – Bernama
