PUBLIC PROSECUTOR v Muhamad Akashah Aizad Bin Hasni

Case Significance

Public Prosecutor v Muhamad Akashah Aizad bin Hasni [2024] SGHC 223 was decided by Mavis Chionh Sze Chyi J in the General Division of the High Court, heard on 31 July 2024 and decided on 30 August 2024, in Criminal Case No 21 of 2024. The matter concerned statutory offences under the Misuse of Drugs Act (Cap 186, 2008 Rev Ed) and sentencing, and the grounds of decision also refer to the Drug Trafficking and Other Serious Crimes (Confiscation of Benefits) Act, the Penal Code and the Prisons Act.

According to the judgment, since the Sentencing Advisory Panel issued the Guidelines on Reduction in Sentences for Guilty Pleas on 1 October 2023, a number of cases had come before the General Division of the High Court in which accused persons pleaded guilty to trafficking and/or importing drugs in quantities falling just below the capital threshold under the MDA, for example 499.99g of cannabis, 14.99g of diamorphine, and 249.99g of methamphetamine. The judgment notes that in PP v Iskandar bin Jinan and another [2024] SGHC 134, where the accused pleaded guilty to a charge of trafficking in not less than 14.99g of diamorphine under s 5(1)(a) punishable under s 33(1) of the MDA, the prosecution took the position that the maximum sentencing discount for a plea of guilt in such trafficking and importation cases should be 10% rather than the 30% provided in the Sentencing Guidelines, while the defence objected and argued for a case-by-case assessment. The judgment head is truncated and does not state the final sentence imposed on the defendant, Muhamad Akashah Aizad bin Hasni.