MUAR: A 21-year-old man who suffered from multiple injuries during a physical education activity when he was a Form Two student, has won RM452,000 after suing his school for failure to provide reasonable supervision.
Muhammad Syakir Irfan Syed Ali, who was a student of SMK Chaah, Segamat, where the incident took place seven years ago, filed a suit under the tort of negligence after he sustained catastrophic bodily injuries.
This included a severe penetrating injury to his left eye, a skull fracture and acute intracranial hemorrhaging, culminating in severe permanent clinical disabilities affecting his vision and neurological functions.
The victim, who was a minor when the incident occurred on Sept 17, 2019, sued through his father and litigation representative Syed Ali Syed Hussein.
The first defendant was named as the school’s activity teacher Nur Badruzzanan Mohamad, the second defendant as school principal Maziah Mohammad, the third defendant as Education Department director-general and the Malaysian government as the fourth defendant.
The incident occurred during a physical and health education class held from 8.30am to 9.30am at the school.
According to the statement of the facts, the first defendant directly supervised the students’ sports activities with another teacher after they were separated by gender.
The first defendant retrieved the sporting equipment from the school’s sports storeroom and conducted a frisbee activity.
Upon concluding the frisbee session, Muhammad Syakir Irfan obtained a school badminton racket to engage in an informal game with a classmate.
During the game, the iron shaft of the school-issued badminton racket cleanly detached from its handle and struck Muhammad Syakir Irfan directly, resulting in the injuries.
Muar High Court Judge Kalyana Kumar ruled entirely in the favour of Muhammad Syakir Irfan after evaluating the evidence.
The court allowed his claim on a 100% basis and that the defendants fundamentally failed to provide adequate, reasonable and effective supervision over the students placed under their immediate operational care, custody and control.
The court awarded him RM400,000 in general damages, RM12,809 in special damages (totalling RM412,809) and RM40,000 for costs.
