Pendakwa Raya v MOHD HELMI BIN HASSAN @ HUSSIN

Case Significance

Instructive on a section 39B(1)(a) trafficking conviction where custody and control are effectively conceded and the contest narrows to knowledge, and on the exercise of the sentencing discretion for trafficking following the Abolition of Mandatory Death Penalty Act 2023.

This High Court decision at Alor Setar, Kedah, is a conviction after full trial for drug trafficking and the sentence imposed under the post-reform sentencing regime. The accused was charged under section 39B(1)(a) of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952 with trafficking in 410.9 grams of methamphetamine, the drugs having been recovered during a roadblock conducted, at the time of a Movement Control Order, on the highway at Alor Setar. The prosecution's case, given through its witnesses, was that the accused, riding a borrowed motorcycle, was stopped at the roadblock, and that a paper bag found in the motorcycle's basket contained twelve transparent plastic packets holding a substance confirmed by the chemist to be methamphetamine weighing 410.9 grams. The owner of the motorcycle confirmed that he had lent it to the accused that day and denied that the bag and its contents were his. By the close of the case the only issue pressed on the accused's behalf was proof of the accused's knowledge; counsel accepted, in effect, that the evidence established that the bag containing the drugs was in the custody and control of the accused, did not challenge that the contents were dangerous drugs listed in the First Schedule to the Act, and did not challenge the chain of evidence over the exhibits. The court, per Datuk Mohamad Abazafree bin Mohd Abbas J, was satisfied that the prosecution had proved its case beyond reasonable doubt and convicted the accused of the trafficking charge. On sentence, the court noted that following the coming into force of the Abolition of Mandatory Death Penalty Act 2023 the punishment had changed and the court now had a discretion in sentencing, and it imposed a sentence of imprisonment for life (penjara seumur hidup). The judgment is instructive on a trafficking conviction where custody and control are effectively conceded and the contest narrows to knowledge, and on the exercise of the sentencing discretion for trafficking under the reformed penalty regime.