SEPANG: The father of the 12-year-old boy who drove a Perodua Viva for a joyride with his younger siblings claimed trial at the Sessions Court here today to a charge of neglect and failure to supervise the child.
The carpet seller aged 53, a Pakistani with a Malaysian permanent resident status, pleaded not guilty after the charge was read out to him before judge Ahmad Fuad Othman.
The charge read that he, being the person having care of his son, had neglected and had acted carelessly in a way that could have exposed him to physical injury by failing to supervise the child who had driven the vehicle.
He was alleged to have committed the offence about 7.30pm at Taman Putra Impiana in Puchong on July 28.
The charge under Section 31(1)(a) of the Child Act provides a maximum RM50,000 fine or jail not more than 20 years or both upon conviction.
Section 31(2) of the act stipulates that the court, shall, in addition to any punishment specified in subsection (1), order the person convicted of an offence to execute a bond with sureties to be of good behaviour for such period as the court thinks fit and to perform community service.
Deputy public prosecutor Nurul Farahin Sasaruddin urged the court to set bail at RM15,000 with one surety.
As additional conditions, she said the accused should not go near witnesses and report to the police station on the first day of each month.
In mitigation, lawyer Nabilla Rosli said the accused is married to a local woman and they have five school-going children aged between 6 and 19.
"The bail sum suggested by the prosecution is too high and beyond his financial means. He is a small time carpet seller who earns about RM3,000 monthly and has unstable income.
"I ask for the bail sum to be low as it is to ensure his attendance in court. I stress on the principle that he is innocent until proven guilty.
"An amount that is too high will cause him to be under remand in prison and this will be detrimental to his family as he is the sole breadwinner.
"He is ready to accept any additional conditions," she said.
The court set bail at RM8,000 with one surety and allowed the prosecution's additional conditions.
Sept 4 was set for mention.
The boy's antics were caught in a two-minute video which went viral last week.
In it, a woman had asked the boy, who was behind the wheel, to stop the vehicle.
She was heard reprimanding the boy, whose two siblings aged 4 and 6, were in the front passenger seat.
An investigation revealed that the incident occurred at Taman Putra Impiana, Puchong at 8pm on July 28.
Police were alerted about the video at 6.30pm on July 29.
Last week, police said they had completed investigations and had recommended charges in the case to the deputy public prosecutor's office.