KOTA KINABALU: The Magistrate’s Court yesterday discharged and acquitted a 25-year old man of a charge of possessing 49.7 grams of cannabis.

Magistrate Stephanie Sherron Abbie made the decision on Mohd Fitri Abdul Latif when the case came up for ruling at the end of defence stage.

Mohd Fitri was accused of possessing the drugs at a hotel in Damai here at 2.45 pm on April 11, 2017 which is an offence under Section 6 of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952 and punishable under Section 39A (1) of the same Act.

The indictment provides for a jail term of not be less than 2 years and not exceeding five years, and shall also be whipped of not less than three strokes but not more than nine strokes of the cane, upon conviction.

Four defence witnesses and two prosecution witnesses were produced throughout the trial which commenced on October 3, 2017.

On September 5, 2018, the magistrate ruled that the prosecution had established a prima facie case against the accused and ordered him to enter his defence, which took place on January 14.

Inspector Albert Basiri prosecuted while Mohd Fitri was represented by counsel Azhier Farhan Arisin.