A TRADER was sentenced to three years’ jail by the Kota Baru Sessions Court today for causing a child with special needs to overdose on methamphetamine and morphine.

Mohd Shahrizuan Alias, 32, also had a three-year good behaviour bond of RM3,000 imposed on him and was ordered to perform 180 hours of community service.

Judge Mohd Zul Zakiquddin Zulkifli meted out sentence to Shahrizuan after he pleaded guilty to the charge of exposing the boy, aged three years and nine months, to harmful substances to the body and causing the victim to suffer drug toxicity.

He was accused of committing the act on the victim, who is his cousin’s son, at the riverside of Kampung Sri Jaya, Mahligai, Kuala Krai near Kota Baru at 3pm on June 18.

He was charged under section 31(1)(a) of the Child Act 2001, which provides for a maximum jail term of 20 years, a maximum fine of RM50,000, or both, upon conviction.

Deputy public prosecutor Wan Nurul Hanini Wan Ahmad Shukry urged the court to pass a commensurate sentence as the accused was negligent in the care of the boy, who suffers from global development delay, while Shahrizuan, who was unrepresented, pleaded for a lighter sentence as he had to support his family.

The incident and the circumstances surrounding it had been widely reported by media outlets. The boy had been brought to Gua Musang Hospital by his mother in an unconscious state on June 19, following an outing with the accused.

Tests revealed that methamphetamine and morphine were present in the boy’s body, and the accused was arrested at 10pm the same day after a report was lodged.

Subsequent investigations revealed that the accused had left the boy in the car that he knew contained drugs. – Bernama, June 28, 2022.