Johor bicycle tragedy: Driver seeks leave to appeal
Sam Ke Ting, 27, has gone to the Court of Appeal to set aside her conviction as well as a six-year prison sentence and RM6,000 fine for reckless driving that caused the deaths of eight teen cyclists in 2017.
The clerk’s lawyer Muhammad Faizal Mokhtar said they have filed today an application seeking leave to appeal from the Court of Appeal.
The defence counsel added that...
Sam Ke Ting, 27, has gone to the Court of Appeal to set aside her conviction as well as a six-year prison sentence and RM6,000 fine for reckless driving that caused the deaths of eight teen cyclists in 2017.
The clerk’s lawyer Muhammad Faizal Mokhtar said they have filed today an application seeking leave to appeal from the Court of Appeal.
The defence counsel added that they have also filed a certificate of urgency to expedite the hearing of the matter.
“The notice of motion (for) leave to appeal and certificate (of) urgency were both filed today vie e-filing,” Faizal told Malaysiakini.
The lawyer also expressed gratitude for all the support shown to Sam.
As the reckless driving case initially originated at the Magistrate’s Court rather than the Sessions Court, she first needed to obtain leave from the Court of Appeal before she could proceed with the appeal proper.
Yesterday, Free Malaysia Today reported Faizal saying they would be filing the appeal leave application.
While handing down the sentence earlier yesterday, Johor Bahru High Court judge Abu Bakar Katar said her act of driving recklessly or dangerously has resulted in the loss of eight lives.
"In her defence, she said that she did not see the group of cyclists at the scene and that there was another vehicle that hit the victims and sped away. This version was never raised by the respondent during the prosecution's case.
"The respondent should drive more carefully, taking into account the darkness and limited visibility," he said.
Stay application denied
Besides being convicted, sentenced to jail, and fined, Sam was ordered to serve additional six-month imprisonment if she fails to pay the fine.
The court also denied her lawyer’s application to stay the sentence pending appeal.
On Feb 18, 2017, eight cycling youths died, two others were critically injured, and six more were lightly injured when the car Sam was driving rammed into them in the 3am incident.
Those who were killed in the incident were Mohamad Azrie Danish Zulkefli, 14; Muhamad Shahrul Izzwan Azzuraimie, 14; Muhammad Firdauz Danish Mohd Azhar, 16; Fauzan Halmijan, 13; Mohamad Azhar Amir, 16; Muhammad Harith Iskandar Abdullah, 14; Muhammad Shahrul Nizam Marudin, 14; and Haizad Kasrin, 16.
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