Pendakwa Raya v 1. ) IZHAR BIN ABD SAMAD 2. ) OMAR BIN YAHYA

Case Significance

Illustrates the two-stage burden in a joint section 39B(1)(a) trafficking trial and the operation of common intention under section 34 of the Penal Code, where two accused found with drugs at the same premises are convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment and whipping.

This High Court decision at Johor Bahru arises from a joint trial of two accused across three registered case numbers, all stemming from the same arrest, scene and exhibits. In this case number the two accused were charged jointly, in furtherance of a common intention under section 34 of the Penal Code, with trafficking in methamphetamine weighing 82.65 grams at a house in Taman Johor Jaya on 10 March 2021, an offence under seksyen 39B(1)(a) Akta Dadah Berbahaya 1952 (section 39B(1)(a) of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952). The companion cases concerned a separate trafficking charge against the second accused alone and a joint possession charge against both accused.

Applying section 180(1) of the Criminal Procedure Code, the court found at the close of the prosecution case that a prima facie case had been established against both accused, the drugs having been recovered at the premises, analysed by the chemist and linked to the accused, and it called on them to enter their defence. Both gave sworn evidence, their defence being one of denial. At the close of the defence the court was satisfied that the defence had failed to raise a reasonable doubt against the prosecution case, which had been proved beyond reasonable doubt, and it convicted both accused of the trafficking charge. The court's reasons for all three case numbers were given together in a single judgment, since the accused's separate appeals against conviction and sentence turned on the same facts, arrest report, scene and exhibits.

On this joint trafficking charge the court sentenced both accused to life imprisonment from the date of arrest, together with 12 strokes of the cane, under section 39B(2) of the Act read with section 34 of the Penal Code, the custodial terms to run concurrently with the sentences on the other charges. The judgment illustrates the two-stage assessment in a joint trafficking trial and the operation of common intention where two accused are found in possession of drugs at the same premises.