KUALA TERENGGANU – The father of the six-year-old boy who was killed in a firecracker explosion in Kampung Makam Lama, Cabang Tiga here two months ago, was sentenced to one year’s jail by the Magistrates Court here today for keeping explosive substances comprising firecrackers and sparklers.
Magistrate Nor Azizah Yusof ordered Ayub Abd Rahman, 29, to serve the jail term from Wednesday.
Ayub, a construction worker, was charged with keeping an assortment of firecrackers and sparklers, which are prohibited items, at an unnumbered house at Jalan Seri Nilam, Kampung Makam Lama, Chabang Tiga here at about 3pm on Aug 22.
The charge under Section 8 of the Explosives Act 1957 (Act 207) carries a maximum jail term of seven years or fine not exceeding RM10,000, or both, if convicted.
When passing the sentence, Nor Azizah said the court had taken into consideration Ayub’s guilty plea which had saved the court’s time.
However, she said the offence committed by the accused was serious as it involved the death of an innocent victim, which in this case, was the accused’s own son.
Also present in court was Ayub’s wife, Kamariah Sufian, 25.
In the incident at around noon on Aug 22, their son, Khairul Arif Ayub, six, was hurled 15 metres skywards and got entangled on a tree top when the firecrackers and sparklers stored in the house exploded.
The boy died in hospital due to severe head injuries, while two others, Mohd Asrizan Muda, 22, and Mazlan Abdullah, 29, sustained serious injuries.
Meanwhile, at the same court, a man was also fined RM5,000 in default one year’s jail after he pleaded guilty to being in possession various types of firecrackers.
Khaidir Mohamad, 24, from Kampung Losong Haji Mat Shafie, was charged with possessing the firecrackers at the fish selling area in the Chabang Tiga market here at about 6.45pm on Sept 8.
— BERNAMA
