Woman in ‘basikal lajak’ case gets reprieve from jail for now

Sam Ke Ting who was ordered to serve six years in jail and fined RM6,000 for reckless driving resulting in the death of eight teenagers on modified bicycles in 2017 today obtained a stay of her sentence pending the disposal of her appeal at the Court of Appeal.

A three-man bench led by judge P Ravinthran allowed her leave to appeal with a hearing date for the merits of her appeal to be set at a later point.

Sam was also released on bail of RM10,000 with one surety pending the hearing of her appeal.

Ravinthran was joined on the bench by Lee Heng Cheong and Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali.

Sam, who was 22 at the time of the incident, was charged with driving recklessly or dangerously at Jalan Lingkaran Dalam in Johor Bahru, resulting in the death of eight cyclists at 3.20am on Feb 18, 2017.

She was charged under Section 41 (1) of the Road Transport Act 1987 which carries a maximum jail term of 10 years and a RM20,000 fine upon conviction.

On Oct 28, 2019, she was acquitted and discharged by the Johor Bahru Magistrate’s Court.

On Feb 18, 2021, however, she was ordered to enter her defence after the prosecution succeeded in proving a prima facie case against her.

Magistrate Siti Hajar Ali ruled on Oct 10, 2021 that the prosecution had failed to prove the case against Sam beyond reasonable doubt.

On April 13, though, the High Court in Johor Bahru said the defence failed to raise reasonable doubt against the prosecution’s case which had proven the essence of the offence, overturning the Oct 10 ruling upholding the previous decision to acquit and free her of the charge.

Sam was also disqualified from driving for three years and told to serve another six months in jail if she failed to pay the fine.

According to Bernama, the three-man panel allowed Sam’s application today after receiving no objection from deputy public prosecutor Manoj Kurup.

Manoj said the prosecution had no objection to the application as the case was of public interest and Sam would not run away.

Ravinthran then allowed the application for leave to appeal, and an appeal to stay the execution of the sentence.

“We have discussed, and the applicant (Sam) has been released on bail of RM10,000 with one surety,” said Ravinthran in the unanimous decision.

The court also allowed an application by lawyer Muhammad Faizal Mokhtar, representing Sam, to amend the notice of appeal by including a question of law.

Faizal said the application was made as he had difficulty obtaining the notes of the High Court proceedings on the case due to time constraints.

According to the lawyer, there were six legal questions that need to be answered, including whether Sam’s unsworn testimony was admissible as an explanation to her defence and whether there was a burden on her to prove her responsibility to be more careful on the road than the group of cyclists who obstructed the way.

Faizal, in his submission for a stay of execution of the sentence and when appealing for bail, also said that based on the court records, his client had been present at every trial.

When met by reporters after the proceedings, Faizal said his client advised the public not to debate the case by raising racial issues.

“My client is a person who abides by the rule of law and abides by the court’s decision,” he said.

Faizal also said that his client was well taken care of in prison and that she thanked her family, friends and all those who had supported her.