SIBU: A painter was today sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment and 10 strokes of the cane by the Sessions Court here for possessing dangerous drugs.
The sentence was meted out by Judge Musyiri Peet after finding Voon Uu Long, 39, guilty of the offence after a full trial.
He further ordered that the accused is to be under police supervision for two years upon his release.
The accused was indicted on a charge of having in his possession dangerous drugs of 34.51 grammes of methamphetamine in front of the house along Jalan Medang on April 4, 2023, at about 2:30 pm.
The offence framed under Section 12(2) of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952 and punishable under Section 39A(2)(R) of the same Act provides for life or for a term which shall not be less than five years as well as be punished with whipping of not less than 10 strokes, upon conviction.
Prior to passing sentence, Deputy Public Prosecutor, Mark Kenneth Netto, submitted on the aggravating factors that the interest of the public is of paramount consideration.
He stressed that it supersedes the personal interest of the accused, as mentioned during his mitigation.
No credit, he added, ought to be given to the accused in this case as he had not pleaded guilty at first instance.
“He maintained his innocence and sought for a full trial. A total of five witnesses were called in this trial (four prosecution witnesses and one defence witness).
“The accused’s trial not only incurred huge cost to the public but it also took up precious judicial time of this honourable court. Extra police personnel had to be placed in court for this trial.
“The accused’s background during his mitigation did not suggest that he was forced into a life of crime. He did not claim he was from a violent or broken home or that he grew up being influenced by drugs. His judgment was not clouded when he decided to get involved in drugs. It was deliberate.
“The accused has not given any assistance to any law enforcement agency to help it disrupts any drug trafficking activities,” he pointed out.
Disclosing that drug cases in Sarawak have now reach epidemic proportion, DPP Mark said the cost incurred by the public for the Royal Malaysia Police to combat narcotic related crimes are at an all-time high.
He argued that the accused’s drug possession activities have ruined the fabric of society and the community that he lived in, and such drugs presumably ruin the prospects of the people who were addicted to them.
According to him, the lives of these drug addicts were also taken over and eventually lost as a result of drug addiction.
He also pointed out that drug possession such as the type that the accused was involved in gives rise to a variety of other crimes, such as housebreaking, domestic violence, robbery and so forth.
“The sentence imposed on the accused must reflect a general deterrence to drug related activities. It ought to send a strong message to other potential would be offender not to be involved in drug possession and the accused person in this matter has previous conviction record in the Court CMS system,” he added.
