Court awards 7 times more in revised damages to families of 2010 police shooting victims

The families of three young men gunned down by the police in the infamous Glenmarie shooting in Shah Alam nearly 11 years ago have received revised damages of more than seven times the original amount granted by the court in 2019.

High Court judge Khadijah Idris awarded the families RM1,519,200 at the Shah Alam court yesterday.

Muhammad Shamil Hafiz Shapiei, 15; Mohd Hairul Nizam Tuah, 22; and Muhammad Hanafi Omar, 21 were shot dead by the police after a car chase in the Glenmarie industrial area on Nov 13, 2010.

The police reportedly claimed they had acted in self-defence, and that the trio were suspected of involvement in a string of alleged petrol station robberies.

Their families filed a suit at the High Court in August 2014, naming seven police officers, the Shah Alam district police chief, the Selangor police chief, the inspector-general of police and the federal government, and seeking relief in general, aggravated and exemplary damages.

In September 2016, the Court of Appeal ruled that the youth were illegally shot down by the police.

The matter was then remitted to the registrar of the Shah Alam High Court for assessment of damages, which awarded only RM207,000.

The families appealed to the Shah Alam High Court for a reassessment of damages, resulting in today’s decision.

The families were represented by Zaid Malek while federal counsel Natrah Mazman represented the defendants.