Ex-judge Sri Ram to lead Sam Ke Ting’s appeal in ‘basikal lajak’ case

Former Federal Court judge Gopal Sri Ram will lead the defence team in clerk Sam Ke Ting’s appeal against her conviction and jail sentence for reckless driving leading to the death of eight teenagers who were riding on modified bicycles commonly known as basikal lajak.

Lawyer Harvinderjit Singh, when contacted, confirmed the matter.

He said he would appear with Sri Ram to represent Sam and that their appointments were finalised today.

Harvinderjit said Sam met Sri Ram at his office today and that he agreed to conduct the appeal for her, adding that her lawyer Faizal Mokhtar would also be part of the legal team.

He said he would inform the Court of Appeal deputy registrar of their appointments and ask for the appeal records to be provided for the preparation of the case as well as the petition of appeal.

Case management for Sam’s appeal has been set on May 11 before deputy registrar Mohd Khairi Haron.

On April 18, the Court of Appeal granted Sam leave to appeal against the six-year jail sentence and RM6,000 fine imposed by the High Court.

The Court of Appeal also allowed Sam’s application to stay the execution of the jail sentence and fine imposed by the High Court on April 13 and released her on bail of RM10,000 with one surety pending the hearing of her appeal.

High Court judge Abu Bakar Katar had meted out the jail sentence and fine after allowing the prosecution’s appeal to set aside the Magistrate’s Court’s decision on Oct 10 last year, acquitting and discharging Sam.

He also ordered her to be jailed for six months if she failed to pay the fine and imposed a three-year driving ban upon completion of her prison term.

Sam, who was 22 at the time of the incident, was charged with committing the offence at Jalan Lingkaran Dalam, Johor Bahru, Johor at 3.20am on Feb 18, 2017.

The eight 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.