KUALA LUMPUR: A father who could not put up with the cries of his newborn was sentenced to 10 years' jail by the Sessions Court for slamming the baby to the floor, resulting in the baby suffering from intracranial bleeding and falling into a coma.
Mohd Amri Ismail, 29, who is homeless, looked down throughout the proceedings and merely told the court that he regretted what he did to his four-month-old son.
"I regret doing that to my son," he said after pleading guilty before judge Zaman Mohd Noor.
Amri was charged with attempting to kill his baby causing the victim to suffer bleeding in the brain as a result of being slammed to the floor.
The offence was committed at a room in Lorong Haji Taib, Chow Kit here, at 7.30pm on Nov 4 last year.
The charge under Section 307 of the Penal Code carries a maximum 10 years' jail and shall also be liable to a fine, and if hurt is caused to any person by such act, the offender shall be liable to a maximum jail term of 20 years.
In sentencing, Zaman reprimanded the accused and said a clear message needed to be conveyed to the public so that such cases would not be repeated.
"Did you not realise that the child could have died as a result of what you did. He is only four months old," the judge said.
Amri who was unrepresented only answered "I do (realise)"
Zaman ordered Amri's jail term to run from the date of his arrest on Nov 5 last year.
Earlier, deputy public prosecutor Amira Sariyati Zainal in urging for a deterrent sentence said the court should consider the victim's condition when he was taken to the hospital.
"The baby was already unconcious when he was taken to hospital, and if he had not been rushed to the hospital immediately he could have died.
"As a father, it is the accused's responsibility to care for the child. A stiff sentence should be imposed as such cases have been increasing," she said.
According to the facts, on the day of the incident, the accused had asked his friend to take the baby to hospital claiming that the baby had fallen.
Investigations revealed that the accused was taking care of the victim and his friend witnessed the incident.
The friend told police that he had tried to prevent the accused from throwing the baby to the floor but the accused did not stop.