Judge can't cane

A Malaysian court has overruled a judge who sparked a legal stir because he wanted to personally cane a convicted robber.

Sessions court Judge Zainal Abidin Kamarudin ordered last month that a 20-year-old man be whipped with a rattan cane 10 times and insisted that he wanted to carry out the sentence himself in court on July 15.

But the high court decided that the judge should not cane offenders himself, said defence lawyer, Nik Mohamed Ikhwan Nik Mahamud, and that defendant Muhammad Syafiq should serve 200 hours of community service instead.