Putrajaya, April 18 — The Court of Appeal has allowed clerk Sam Ke Ting to be freed on bail of RM10,000 in one surety, pending her bid for leave to appeal against her conviction and sentence in the modified bicycle, or ‘basikal lajak’, case.
Sam, 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 allowed her leave to appeal with a hearing date for the merits of her appeal to be set at a later point.
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 3.20 am 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 an 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 defense 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 defense failed to raise reasonable doubt against the prosecution’s case which had proven the essence of the offense, 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.
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