By Dorcas Ting
KUCHING, June 29: The High Court here today sentenced a 16-year-old boy to six years’ imprisonment after allowing the prosecution’s appeal against an earlier order committing him to Henry Gurney School until the age of 21 for causing a crash that claimed five lives.
Judicial Commissioner Datuk Faridz Gohim Abdullah set aside the Magistrates’ Court’s sentencing order and substituted it with a six-year prison term.
The sentence takes effect from June 16, 2025.
The court also ordered that the juvenile offender be segregated from adult inmates throughout his imprisonment.
The case arose from a fatal crash on Jan 14 along Jalan Stutong Baru, where the underage and unlicensed driver was behind the wheel of a Proton Saga that collided with another vehicle, killing five people aged between 16 and 42.
The teenager pleaded guilty to two charges — reckless driving causing the deaths of five people under the Road Transport Act, and driving without a valid licence.
On June 13, the Magistrates’ Court, after considering a social welfare report on the boy’s background and conduct, ordered that he be detained at Henry Gurney School until he reached the age of 21 for the reckless driving offence.
He was also fined RM1,500, or two months’ imprisonment in default, for driving without a valid licence.
During the earlier proceedings, the prosecution had sought a deterrent sentence, citing the gravity of the offence, the loss of five lives, public safety concerns, and the rising number of fatal crashes involving underage drivers.
In a related case, the teenager’s father, Lawan Akie Suma, pleaded guilty on May 14, 2025, to failing to exercise proper supervision over his son, an omission that contributed to the fatal crash.
He was fined RM15,000, or 12 months’ imprisonment in default, and ordered to complete 100 hours of community service within four months after admitting the offence under the Child Act. — DayakDaily
