Muar High Court acquits duo of drug charges

MUAR: Two individuals have been acquitted and discharged of drug charges by the High Court here.

Lai Ching Wei, 38, and Te Lay Ling, 35, were charged with trafficking 512g of heroin and monoacetylmorphine at a house in Taman Pulai Indah, Tangkak on April 6, 2018.

They were charged under Section 39B(1)(a) of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952 for the offence and could have been sentenced to death under Section 39B(2) of the same Act.

They were also charged under Section 12(2) of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952, punishable under Section 39A(2) of the same Act.

The duo were charged together with Tee Siang Ti, 37, who died in prison on May 12 this year due to Covid-19.

In his judgment, Judge Abu Bakar Katar ruled that the prosecution had failed to prove a prima facie case against the accused.

He said that the prosecution had failed to eliminate possibilities of other individuals having access to the house where the drugs were found.

The discovery of DNA of other individuals also showed that there were other people with access to the house, he added.

The accused were represented by lawyers G. Subramaniam Nair, Selvanteran Segaran and Dhanesh Subramaniam Nair.

Meanwhile, Deputy Public Prosecutor Muhammad Azfar Mahmod prosecuted the case.

Following the judgment, Te was seen shedding tears of joy and hugged her lawyers outside the courtroom.