Fadley Faisal
A local man was sentenced to 34 months’ jail and disqualified from driving for life for killing a policeman during a road accident while driving under influence (DUI).
Aeddie Helmi anak Sibat, 20, was also ordered to settle a BND1,500 fine for consuming methylamphetamine or risk serving an additional three months’ jail in default of payment.
Acting Senior Magistrate Dewi Norlelawati binti Haji Abdul Hamid handed the sentence yesterday after hearing the defendant’s guilty plea for both charges.
Prosecutor Syazwani binti Jumat revealed that the defendant drove home from work as a security guard at 7pm on July 29, 2022.
Arriving home, he showered, ate supper and took up an invitation by a friend for a drink in Kampong Melayu Asli.
The defendant was already high on methylamphetamine by this time.
Despite feeling tired after a work shift, the defendant drove to fetch his friend in Jalan Puragam, headed to get two bottles of fermented rice wine and made their way to Kampong Melayu Asli to drink with an acquaintance.
They then moved to another location at a hotel in Kuala Belait to continue drinking with other friends until midnight.
The defendant and his friends went to get another bottle of the fermented rice wine and went back to the hotel’s parking lot to continue drinking.
It was sometime between 2am and 3am when the defendant started to head home taking the road along Jalan Lorong Setia Diraja.
The defendant was intoxicated with alcohol and methylampehtamine as well as lethargic from his work shift, yet he drove at a speed of 120 kilometres per hour.
The defendant fell asleep behind the wheels causing his car to run over a concrete road divider and into the opposite lane crashing into another car.
The other car was driven by a man carrying the victim in the front passenger seat and another passenger in the rear seat. All of the men in the other car were policemen on duty conducting a crime prevention patrol.
The accident led to the victim’s death and caused injuries to the driver and the other passenger.
Police came to the scene and they all transported to Suri Seri Begawan Hospital where the defendant’s urine sample tested positive for the drug and his blood sample tested to have 73.09 milligrammes of ethanol per 100 millilitres of blood sample.
