Pendakwa Raya v CHAI KONG WEE @ CHIA KONG WEE

Case Significance

Illustrates the serious view taken of discharging a firearm during an armed robbery under section 3 of the Firearms (Increased Penalties) Act 1971, and the use of section 292(1) of the Criminal Procedure Code to order a long term of imprisonment to run consecutively to the offender's other sentences to protect the public.

This High Court decision at Shah Alam concerns sentencing on a plea of guilty to discharging a firearm while committing a scheduled offence, under section 3 of the Firearms (Increased Penalties) Act 1971. On the agreed facts, the accused entered a bank branch at a business park in Shah Alam in April 2020, went to the counter causing glass to break, and ordered the security guard to lie on the floor. He obtained cash from tellers — sums of RM1,968 and RM1,748 — and repeatedly ordered an assistant manager to open the vault, which she was unable to do, before leaving through the main door; the total loss was RM3,716. The charge under section 3 arose from his discharging a firearm during the robbery, a scheduled offence, with intent to cause death or injury to members of the public. The accused pleaded guilty and, having considered the plea, the agreed facts, the exhibits and the submissions in mitigation and aggravation, the court convicted him under section 3. In assessing sentence, the court emphasised the gravity of using a firearm in a public place with disregard for the safety and lives of members of the public, and the need to protect society from the accused, who would otherwise be likely to reoffend; it drew on comparative authority on when a lengthy or consecutive sentence is justified notwithstanding its crushing effect on a relatively young offender. The court sentenced the accused to 30 years' imprisonment and 12 strokes of the cane ("hukuman penjara 30 tahun dan 12 kali sebatan rotan"). Applying section 292(1) of the Criminal Procedure Code, and given the seriousness of the offence and the need to protect the public, it ordered that this sentence take effect only after the accused completes the term of imprisonment imposed in a related High Court case.