Back in February 18th of 2017, 22-year-old Sam Ke Ting was found to have crashed into a group of around 30 teenagers riding heavily modified bicycles known as basikal lajak along Jalan Lingkaran Dalam in Johor Bahru at around 3.20am in the morning. The accident allegedly resulted in the deaths of eight boys, and she was subsequently charged under Section 41(1) of the Road Transport Act with ‘reckless or dangerous driving’.
Today, it has been reported by local news agency Free Malaysia Today that Sam, who arrived earlier this morning at the Court of Appeal, has won her final appeal against her conviction and six year jail sentence.
Sam Ke Ting acquitted of reckless driving charge from 2017 basikal lajak case
This puts an end to a lengthy and high-profile litigation suit that spanned between August 2017 to August 2019, which saw as many as 46 witnesses being called by the prosecution to the stand. Previously, Magistrate Siti Hajar Ali had acquitted Sam on October 28th, 2019, without calling her to enter her defence.
At the time, the magistrate determined that the prosecution had failed to prove that Sam was the driver of the car during the accident, that she was driving in a reckless or dangerous manner after taking into account all circumstances including the road’s nature, condition and size, as well as whether the accident resulted in the deaths of any persons.
The eight teenagers who perished in the crash included 14-year-old Mohamad Azrie Danish Zulkefli, 14-year-old Muhamad Shahrul Izzwan Azzuraimie, 16-year-old Muhammad Firdauz Danish Mohd Azhar, 13-year-old Fauzan Halmijan, 16-year-old Mohamad Azhar Amir, 14-year-old Muhammad Harith Iskandar Abdullah, 14-year-old Muhammad Shahrul Nizam Marudin, 14 and 16-year-old Haizad Kasrin.
During the accident, they were riding on illegally modified bicycles known colloquially as basikal lajak, which are meant to travel at high speeds without without brakes.
Previously acquitted twice by Magistrate Court
The Magistrate Court’s decision was later overruled when High Court judicial commissioner Shahnaz Sulaiman granted the prosecution’s appeal in February 18th, 2021 and remitted the case back to the Magistrate’s Court, before calling Sam to enter her defence after determining that they were able to prove establish prima facie.
For a second time, Sam was once again acquitted by Magistrate Siti Hajar Ali on October 10th, 2021 after giving an unsworn statement from the dock. This prompted the prosecution to file a second appeal to the High Court, which they won on April 13th, 2022.
High Court judge Datuk Abu Bakar Katar later determined Sam to be guilty for a charge of reckless or dangerous driving under Section 41(1) of the Road Transport Act. According to him, Sam failed to raise reasonable doubt in the prosecution’s case, and adds that the magistrate had erred in their decision to acquit her.
She was subsequently sentenced to six years in prison, in addition to a RM6,000 fine in lieu of of an additional six months jail term. Sam was also disqualified of having a driver’s license for three years after the completion of her jail term. Her sentence was set to begin on April 13th, 2022 without a stay of execution and she was locked up.
However, the Court of Appeal later granted her a stay of execution on April 18th, 2022 and set a bail amount of RM10,000, pending her appeal.
Earlier today, a three member panel led by Justice Hadhariah Syed Ismail and consisting of Justices Hashim Hamzah as well as Judge Azman Abdullah granted her appeal after determining that the charges against Sam, which were framed under Section 41(1) of the Road Transport Act, are defective.
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Also read: Father of 2017 ‘basikal lajak’ victim now on a mission to stop other kids from becoming ‘mat lajaks’
