Borneo Bulletin, BSB, 10 March 2000

Parang slasher gets 2 more years

An additional two years imprisonment was imposed on the current sentence on a Filipino, Jaime T Pastrana, 40, convicted for causing hurt to a 42-year-old man with a "parang".

Judge Steven Chong also ordered two strokes of the rattan after the prosecution made an appeal against the sentence in the High Court yesterday.

He was convicted for causing hurt to Avelino B Nibal with a parang on March 23 last year at Simpang 89, Jalan Bengkurong Masin. He was sentenced to one year imprisonment by Magistrate Ridzlan bin Hj Ibrahim on December 11 after a full hearing.

In the High Court, Deputy Public Prosecutor Suhana binti Hj Sudin appealed against the sentence because she viewed the sentence of 12 months jail was inadequate.

The punishment under the offence carries mandatory whipping and the Magistrate had failed to order whipping in the case, DPP Suhana told the High Court.

She added that the parang used was a dangerous weapon and the injuries inflicted amounted to hurt. The weapon used, the attack, and the reasons for the attack are counted as the aggravating factors for a harsh and deterrent sentence, she said. The offence carries a maximum sentence of seven years imprisonment.

Judge Chong said that the Magistrate must have taken into consideration that Pastrana wished to go back to Philippines because he has nine children to support. He is the sole breadwinner of the family because the wife is unemployed, the court was told.

Pastrana's 65-year-old mother is taking care of his children now, he told the court. Pending sentence, he told the High Court that he wished to go back to Philippines so he could educate his children and help his wife.

Pastrana and the Nibal were both employees of Syarikat Pg Hj Abas. On March 23, an argument broke out between them on the distribution of wages.

Pastrana was enraged, he took the parang from his room and lashed Nibal. Two other employees witnessed the knife attack.

Judge Chong said that the Magistrate imposed imprisonment of one year as he took that the respondent reacted at the spur of the moment, that the attack was not premeditated.

Even if the accused had been provoked by victim's behaviour, the retaliation was wholly disproportionate to the provo-scation, the Judge added. The accused had used a dangerous weapon to attack the victim repeatedly. Evidence showed the accused had aimed a blow to victim's head but victim managed to avoid it.

The Judge agreed with DPP Suhana's submission that the victim was lucky to have escaped serious injuries. But he was not able to accept the Magistrate's judgement that in attacking the victim with a knife the accused had acted on the spur of the moment. That already shows degree of deliberation, the court ruled.

The Magistrate had failed to consider sufficient public interest, deterrence and sending a clear message that such offence will be met with severe punishment, Judge Chong said in court.

The Magistrate also did not give reasons why the mandatory whipping was not imposed upon conviction. Therefore Judge Chong increased the sentence of one year to two years plus two strokes.