Kota Kinabalu: An undocumented labourer was jailed a total of 26 months and ordered given two strokes of the cane for attacking a man and his mother with a knife following a dispute over unpaid wages.
Ajid Sammak pleaded guilty before Magistrate Dzul Elmy Yunus to two charges under Section 324 of the Penal Code.
On the first count, he was sentenced to 12 months’ jail and one stroke of the cane for causing injury to one Malik Abd Alik, 33, with a knife at 7am on April 19, this year, at Kampung Pokok Mangga, Sepanggar.
On the second count, Ajid was handed 14 months’ imprisonment and one stroke of the cane for attacking one Amatu Samad with a knife at the same place and time.
Section 324 provides for a jail term of up to 10 years, or a fine, or whipping, or any two of such punishments, on conviction.
The court heard from the prosecution that the incident occurred when Malik, the complainant, reprimanded Ajid for playing with a knife inside the house.
Ajid then pointed the knife at the complainant, leading to a struggle during which the complainant sustained an injury below the eye from the weapon.
Ajid also stabbed the complainant’s mother, but the attack was stopped.
She suffered minor injuries to her head.
In mitigation, Ajid, who was unrepresented, told the court he acted out of anger after not being paid wages for his work and having gone without food for several days.
He said he had been working for the victims as a welder, earning RM100 a day.
Ajid, a divorcee with two children, pleaded for leniency.
Inspector Mohamad Hamidi Mohamad Hamzah prosecuting, applied for a deterrent sentence.
The court ordered the sentences to run concurrently from the date of arrest and that Ajid be referred to the Immigration Department thereafter.
