PUTRAJAYA: A former odd-job worker and his son, who just turned 18, were jailed for possession of cannabis in a car four years ago.
G Sivakumar, 41, was sentenced to 12 years and ordered to be whipped 10 times.
His son, who was 13 years old when the offence was committed, was given five years on a reduced charge.
A three-member Court of Appeal panel chaired by Justice Hadhariah Syed Ismail said the sentence was to run from March 16, 2019, the date of their arrest.
“The son should be freed today as he has been in custody for four-and-a-half years,” said Hadhariah who sat with Justices Azman Abdullah and Azmi Ariffin.
Earlier, deputy public prosecutor Dhiya Syazwani Izyan Akhir informed the bench that the prosecution had accepted representations from the duo although they were convicted by a lower court of drug trafficking.
On Oct 8, 2021, the Temerloh High Court sentenced Sivakumar to death while his son, then 16, was ordered to be held at the pleasure of the Pahang sultan as he was still a child.
Today, both father and son pleaded guilty to an amended charge of being in possession of 326.47gm of cannabis in a car at Sungai Kawang Estate in Lanchang, Temerloh, about 9.35pm on March 16, 2019.
The offence carries a jail term of up to 30 years and a minimum of 10 strokes of the rotan.
The facts of the case revealed that Sivakumar was standing outside the car while his son was sleeping in its back seat.
Policemen in a patrol car suspected something amiss and upon inspection, they found a bag containing drugs.
Lawyer Ho Cheng En had asked for the son to be released with an admonishment as prescribed under the Child Act 2001 instead of being incarcerated.
He also pleaded that the court impose an eight-year jail term on Sivakumar, following the sentencing trend based on the weight of the drugs. - FMT
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