A debt collector escaped the gallows when the Court...

A debt collector escaped the gallows when the Court of Appeal in Kuala Lumpur set aside the death sentence imposed on him by the High Court for heroin trafficking and amended the charge to one of possession.
The three-member panel led by Court of Appeal judge Datuk Abdul Hamid Mohamed sentenced Cheong Kok Wah, 40, to 18 years' jail and 10 strokes of the rotan for possessing 93gm of heroin on February 22, 1990.
Cheong was sentenced to death by the Kuantan High Court on December 12, 1996, when he was found guilty of trafficking in 141.8gm of heroin under Section 39B (1) (a) of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1956 which carries the mandatory death sentence upon conviction.