Malaysia court frees Sam Ke Ting who crashed into 8 teens racing on modified bikes in 2017 - The Straits Times

PUTRAJAYA - The Malaysian Court of Appeal has acquitted a woman of a reckless driving charge linked to a crash that killed eight teenagers riding modified bicycles in Johor six years ago.

In a unanimous decision, a three-judge panel chaired by Justice Hadhariah Syed Ismail allowed Ms Sam Ke Ting’s appeal to quash her guilty verdict by the High Court, on grounds that the charge was defective.

“In this case, the charge was incorrect, it was defective. The conviction was also incorrect. On these grounds alone, the appeal is allowed,” Justice Hadhariah said on Tuesday.

The other judges on the panel were Justice Hashim Hamzah and Justice Azman Abdullah.

Justice Hadhariah said a guilty verdict could only follow the finding of fault of the driver.

“That is how the law stands. You cannot simply say that because it is a fatal accident, the driver must have been liable. That is not what the law says,” she said.

Justice Hadhariah then set aside the High Court’s decision and acquitted and discharged Ms Sam.

“You are now a free person,” she said.

The court also ordered for Ms Sam’s RM10,000 (S$3,030) bail money to be returned to her.

Ms Sam is largely seen as a victim of circumstance in Malaysia after crashing into a group of dozens of teenagers racing illegal bicycles – which had been modified by having their brakes and lights removed and handlebars lowered – on a poorly lit road at 3.20am on Feb 18, 2017.

The eight who died were aged between 13 and 16.

She was charged with reckless driving and causing deaths, and was previously acquitted twice – by the Magistrates’ Court in 2019 and 2021.

In her lower court trial, it was determined that she had not been driving under the influence of alcohol, was alert at the wheel, and was possibly driving below the speed limit at the time of the crash.

But a second appeal by the prosecution took her to the High Court, where on April 13, 2022, a Johor Bahru High Court judge allowed the prosecution’s appeal and convicted Ms Sam of driving recklessly and sentenced her to six years in jail and a RM6,000 fine.

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2023-04-11 07:21:46Z
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