GEORGE TOWN: A senior citizen and her daughter cried tears of happiness when they were discharged and acquitted by the High Court here today for drug trafficking.
South African nationals Catherine Terblanche Millicent, 68, and Leilanie Calitz, 41, hugged each other and sobbed uncontrollably in the dock when judge Datuk Lim Chong Fong freed them.
Leilanie had to console Catherine so as not to disrupt the ongoing court proceeding.
Catherine's lawyer, Sukhinder Pal Singh, who acted pro bono, immediately requested the court to have his client's handcuffs removed, to which Lim consented.
Earlier, when reading out his judgment, Lim ruled that the prosecution had failed to prove a prima facie case against the duo.
He said the prosecution had failed to prove the utmost important point about the identity of the drug exhibits in terms of the evidential chain between what was purportedly discovered and seized on Nov 24, 2014 and the evidence produced at the trial.
The chemist had admitted, during the course of the trial, that she had not personally carried out the test on the purity and weight of the drugs.
"This itself is a fatal infamity, where the first ingredient of this whole case, was not proven by the prosecution.
"As such, both accused are discharged and acquitted," he said.
Catherine was charged with trafficking in 3,087gm of methamphetamine at the arrival hall of the Penang International Airport at 8.45pm on Nov 11, 2014 while Leilanie, with trafficking in 2,290gm of methamphetamine at the same place, time and day.
They were charged under Section 39B, which carries the mandatory death penalty.
The mother-daughter were initially charged with Catherine's male companion, Fred Philpott, then aged 63. He however died of heart attack while in custody before the trial proper began early last year.
The trio had arrived from Kuala Lumpur to Penang on the day they were arrested.
K. Simon Murali also acted pro bono for Leilanie while Deputy Public Prosecutor Nur Liyana Mohd Jafri prosecuted.
Catherine and Leilanie's freedom, however, was short-lived as they were re-arrested by the Immgiration Department soon after proceedings, as their visa had expired.
Speaking to newsmen before being led away again, Catherine thanked all quarters for their help in ensuring their freedom.
"I thank my lawyers. I thank the judge and I also thank the Jawi Prisons (where they had been placed since 2014).
"I just want to thank everybody," said a beaming Catherine.