KOTA KINABALU: A general worker from Sipitang was jailed for 15 years by the Sessions Court here yesterday for causing the death of a co-worker last year.
Judge Azreena Aziz imposed the sentence on Caulus Ampahas, 36, after he pleaded guilty to a charge under Section 304 (a) of the Penal Code.
The charge carries a jail term of up to 30 years and a fine, upon conviction.
The accused admitted to committing culpable homicide not amounting to murdering the 22-year-old deceased in the room of a workers’ house of a company in Sipitang on November 15, 2017.
Deputy public prosecutor Husna Abd Halim told the court that before the incident, the accused, the deceased and their other friends went out to have alcoholic drinks.
After that, they went home at the said place and the accused slept in his room.
At midnight, the accused woke up and found that his cellphone was not with him.
The accused went to the deceased’s room and asked if he had seen the handphone.
However, the victim raised his voice and said that he did not know where the cellphone was.
A fight broke out between them to which the deceased went to the house’s kitchen and took a knife and tried to stab the accused.
The accused managed to avoid the stab but the deceased had lost gripped of the knife.
The accused then took the knife and stabbed the deceased and one of the stabs hit the deceased’s stomach.
The deceased ran to the other friends’ room sought help and the accused also called their friends to get help to send the victim to a hospital. The deceased was pronounced dead at the hospital.
In pleading for a lenient sentence, the unrepresented accused said that he had no intention of stabbing the deceased as he only acted in self defence but he regretted what he had done.
In reply, Husna pressed for a heavier sentence taking into account that the offence committed was serious and one life had lost because of the accused’s act.
She added that a deterrent sentence would serve as a lesson to would-be offenders in future.