KUALA LUMPUR: A court clerk was sentenced to a year’s jail and one stroke of the rotan after the High Court overturned his acquittal for cheating a housewife over a fine in a court case three years ago.
Judge Datuk Mohd Sofian Abd Razak sentenced Shahnaz Khan Kamarzaman, 37, an employee of the court complex here, after allowing the prosecution’s appeal against the accused’s acquittal.
In convicting the accused, Sofian said the magistrate’s court had erred in acquitting the accused on Feb 23, last year.
The court also found that the defence of Shahnaz was a mere denial and there were inconsistencies in the testimony of the defence.
Counsel P.G Cyril who represented Shahnaz pleaded for a good behavior bond to be imposed on his client.
“He is supporting his wife and children and has suffered enough whereby he has been suspended for the past three years and is now doing odd jobs,” he said.
Cyril added that the victim in this case did not suffer any loss and neither was she defrauded.
Deputy public prosecutor Nur Hafizah Rajuni objected to the accused being bound over due to the seriousness of the offence.
“It is important to note that the incident occurred when the accused was working as a public servant which is a position that should be held with integrity and sincerity.
“What the accused did has indirectly tarnished the image of the courts,” she said.
The court however, granted the accused a stay of execution pending his appeal to the Court of Appeal.
The court granted RM3,000 bail with one surety and ordered the accused to report to the police station once in three weeks until the disposal of the case.
Shahnaz was charged with cheating Che Su Abdullah, 61, a housewife, into believing that he could help her pay RM4,000 fine for her son’s drug case.
He committed the offence at Jalan Duta court complex on July 13, 2015.