March 2023 hearing for Sam Ke Ting's appeal in basikal lajak case

The Court of Appeal has set March 31 next year to hear clerk Sam Ke Ting's appeal against her conviction, six-year jail sentence and fine for reckless driving resulting in the deaths of eight teen cyclists on modified bicycles commonly known as basikal lajak about five years ago.

One of her lawyers, Yasmeen Soh Sha-Nisse, when contacted after case management before Court of Appeal deputy registrar Norkamilah Aziz today, confirmed the date.

She said the court ordered both parties to submit their written submissions by March 16 and 17 for the final case management.

Today’s case management was also attended by Sam’s other lawyers, Harvinderjit Singh and Faizal Mokhtar, while deputy public prosecutor Mohd Fairuz Johari appeared for the prosecution.

On Oct 28, 2018, the Johor Bahru Magistrate's Court freed Sam without calling for her defence against the charge of reckless driving leading to the deaths of the teenagers at Jalan Lingkaran Dalam, Johor Bahru, Johor at 3.20am on Feb 18, 2017.
 
The eight teenagers killed in the incident were Mohamad Azrie Danish Zulkefli, 14; Muhamad Shahrul Izzwan Azzuraimie, 14; Muhammad Firdauz Danish Mohd Azhar, 16; Fauzan Halmijan, 13; Mohamad Azhar Amir, 16; Muhammad Harith Iskandar Abdullah, 14; Muhammad Shahrul Nizam Marudin, 14 and Haizad Kasrin, 16. 

In 2019, High Court judge Shahnaz Sulaiman allowed the prosecution's appeal and remitted the case back to the Magistrate's Court for Sam to enter her defence against the reckless driving charge.

Magistrate Siti Hajar Ali, who heard the case in 2019, again discharged and acquitted Sam at the end of the defence case, prompting the prosecution to file a second appeal to the High Court.

On April 13 this year, High Court judge Abu Bakar Katar allowed the prosecution’s appeal and convicted Sam of driving recklessly, sentencing her to six years in jail and fining her RM6,000.

Sam obtained leave from the Court of Appeal on April 18 to appeal against her conviction and jail sentence.

The Court of Appeal also allowed Sam’s application to stay the execution of the jail sentence and released her on bail of RM10,000 with one surety pending the appeal hearing.