PUTRAJAYA, Aug 7 — A food delivery rider escaped the hangman’s noose after his charge of trafficking in 764.9 grammes of cannabis was reduced to one of possession.

Izad Shahizal Pungot, 41, was instead sentenced to 10 years in jail and ordered to be given 10 strokes of the cane by the Court of Appeal three-man bench comprising Justices Datuk Hadhariah Syed Ismail, Datuk Zaidi Ibrahim and Datuk S.M. Komathy Suppiah.

Justice Hadhariah, who delivered the court’s decision said the trend of sentencing for such offences was between 10 years to 12 years imprisonment.

She said the court was of the view that 10 years in jail and 10 strokes of the rotan is adequate. She ordered him to serve his jail sentence from Jan 16, 2018, the date of his arrest.

Izad Shahizal’s lawyer K. S. Pang had earlier informed the court that the Attorney General’s Chambers had accepted his client’s representation to reduce the charge.

According to the charge sheet, Izad Shahizal committed the offence in an apartment in Pangsapuri Desa Dato’ Hajah Hasnah in Johor Baru at 9.30pm on January 16, 2018.

Izad was sentenced to death by the High Court in Johor on November 24, 2021 after he was found guilty.

According to the facts of the case, police arrested Izad after they found drugs with him.

During interrogation, he confessed to the police that there were drugs stored at his home. The police then went to his apartment and Izad led the police to where the drugs were hidden.

In mitigation, Pang had asked the court to impose a jail term of less than 10 years on Izad, saying that his client regretted his action and promised not to do it again. He said the drug was for Izad’s own consumption. — Bernama