JOHOR BARU: A former factory van driver, who was facing the mandatory death penalty or life imprisonment for drug trafficking, has been sentenced to 12 years in jail instead after the charge was amended to drug possession.
In his judgment, High Court Judge Kan Wen Hin accepted the defence’s argument that the accused was an addict and not a trafficker.
Kan then amended the charge from Section 39B of the Dangerous Drug Act 1952 to Section 39A(2) of the same act and sentenced the accused to 12 years imprisonment from the time of arrest in 2019.
According to the facts of the case, Vijayan was charged with trafficking 0.353kg of cannabis at a house in Taman Desa Cemerlang in Johor Baru at about 2.15pm on April 11, 2019.
Deputy public prosecutor Umar Faiz Abdul Kohar prosecuted, while the accused was represented by lawyer Bernard George.
The accused was not whipped because he is over 50.
