A Thai national who ran amok at a hospital in Malaysia last month has been sentenced to 17 years jail and three strokes of the cane, Malaysian media reported today.

Sitthichai Palama, 30, had slashed his own throat at a Kuala Lumpur hospital after police overpowered him when he took a woman hostage at a supermarket, the Star newspaper said.

After regaining consciousness, he opened fire with a pistol snatched from a policeman, wounding a female Red Crescent volunteer in the chest and a police officer in the hand.

Violent act

"The accused had acted violently and could be a danger to others in society," judge Akhtar Tahir was quoted as saying by the Star .

Sitthichai said for his part: "My parents in Thailand are old and they needed money from me but I could not afford to send any cash back to them. This had become a pressure to me causing me to commit the offence." - AFP