Fadley Faisal
An armed gang robber’s attempt to have his sentence reduced was dismissed by the Court of Appeal.
“Protection of public safety has an important role to play in the sentencing of an offender,” Chief Justice Dato Seri Paduka Steven Chong said presiding in the appeal.
The Chief Justice, assisted by Justices Michael Peter Burrell and Conrad Seagroatt, added that Muhammad Zami’ulhayat @ Izzat bin Mohsin’s case weighs heavily in favour of a deterrent sentence.
Responding party Prosecutor Atiyyah binti Abas revealed that the application involves a sentence of 10 years’ imprisonment with 12 whippings.
The applicant was convicted after a trial on charges of armed gang robbery and theft.
The respondent unearthed that the appellant and a co-accused came upon two Indonesians on the morning of June 26, 2019 whose car was parked by the road side in Kampong Tungku.
The Indonesians were waiting to start their work shifts.
The appellant and his accomplice approached one of the Indonesians and asked to borrow his mobile phone to make a call.
It turned out to be a ruse for the appellant to snatch a bag belonging to the other Indonesian placed on top of their car.
The duo drove off with the stolen bag, only to find out later that it contained only clothing.
The duo returned to the Indonesians, and the appellant took out a machete and held it to the Indonesian’s neck while instructing his accomplice to take another bag containing just below BND900 before they sped off again.
The victim tried to stop them by holding onto the passenger side mirror but the appellant’s accomplice kicked him off.
The appellant and his accomplice then shared the money.
The appellant said his sentence will cause his family nothing but hardship, and pointed out that his accomplice had been sentenced to six years’ jail with 12 whippings.
The Court of Appeal found no merits in the appellant’s complaints, as his family‘s hardship cannot be a factor in deciding his sentence and that his accomplice’s sentence was due to him pleading guilty.
The appellant was also found to have prior theft and forgery convictions.
“It was a brazen robbery on the side of a public road in broad daylight using a deadly weapon to threaten the victim,” the appellate court reiterated, on dismissing the application.
