PUTRAJAYA: The Court of Appeal has entered judgment against the police and government for negligence over the death of a businessman detained in a Shah Alam police lockup five years ago.
A three-member bench chaired by Justice Lee Swee Seng ruled that businessman S Thanabalan’s widow, V Santhi, and father, P Vathian, had sufficiently discharged their burden of proof on the totality of evidence.“We find that the High Court was wrong in its failure to consider the findings of fact by the coroner’s court,” said Lee.
The award was also made due to the deplorable conditions of the lockup which saw Thanabalan detained in a cramped cell with no access to clean water.“The defendants’ flimsy excuse cannot be accepted as an excuse for the delay . An award of aggravated damages is to send a strong message of the court’s abhorrence to the defendants’ lackadaisical attitude and negligence,” he added.
Thanabalan was only taken to the hospital after he fainted in the lockup at 8.30pm in April 2019, but was pronounced dead upon arrival,” the judge said, adding that the facts showed a two-and-a-half-hour delay on the part of the police. Lee said the defendants’ explanation that they were unable to ferry Thanabalan to a hospital, which was only five minutes away, due to a lack of manpower, was “unreasonable” and could not be accepted.
The judge also said the cells in the lockup were not functioning properly as the detainees had no access to clean water. “The fact that the closed circuit television recording was not produced by the defendants would warrant an adverse inference being drawn,” he said.
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