Mischief Maker Escapes Cane Thanks To Brother-In-Law
By Malai FadleyRizal

Bandar Seri Begawan - "To disallow the appeal and to allow the corporal punishment to proceed will only jeopardize any opportunity of reforming the appellant and of restoring him to his family who have since forgiven him," said the High Court Judge in allowing the appeal of a mischief offender from being caned.

Hj Kamis Hj Md Zain was released on a bond for good behaviour for 12 months when he won in the appeal with the help of his forgiving brother-in-law against his sentences of 12 months and four strokes imposed by the Magistrates' Court, which was described by the High Court Judge as 'excessively severe' and 'did not benefit the facts of crime'.

Hj Kamis earlier was convicted of two offences of mischief on his own plea of guilty for causing damage to his brother-in-law's house on two occasions.

Firstly, he was trying to see his father who lived with Sani Duraman, his brother-in-law, and his siblings. He found no one in the house in Kg Rimba and decided to enter by climbing through a sliding door causing damage to the door and the lock estimated at $90.

Secondly, he went to the same house again at another time to see his father. He was told that his father was not in. He then got angry and kicked a sliding door causing damage to the door, estimated at $120. The family then overpowered him and Sani Duraman lodged a police report.

Hj Kamis appeared in the Magistrates' Court and the complainant of the case, his brother-in-law, was asked if he would like to take the opportunity to compound the case, which he declined to do so.

Hj Kamis was left with no choice but to serve his sentences. He later proceeded with an appeal. After Hj Kamis had served most of his jail sentence, Sani appeared during the appeal supporting to lower Hj Kamis's custodial sentence and especially remove the corporal punishment, which was the four strokes of the cane imposed by the Magistrates' Court earlier.

The complainant was asked by the judge why he had decided to forgive Hj Kamis only after he had served his sentence which he told the court that he and Hj Kamis's family wanted to teach him a lesson as they were concerned with his drug problems and that Hj Kamis repeatedly acted aggressively when he came to the house, took things away and caused various damages which was why Sani initially refused to forgive Hj Kamis earlier.

However, Sani informed the court that he and Hj Kamis's family decided to forgive him if Hj Kamis can assure that he would not repeat the same offence again. -- Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin

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