Sam Ke Ting has cleared the first hurdle to appeal against her six-year jail sentence and RM6,000 fine for reckless driving that killed eight teen cyclists in Johor.

The clerk also gets to stay out of custody pending the disposal of her appeal.

A three-person Court of Appeal bench unanimously allowed the 27-year-old’s leave to appeal during open-court proceedings this morning.

The court - presided by judge P Ravindran along with Lee Heng Cheong and Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali - will later set a hearing date to hear the merits of her appeal.

The bench also allowed her to stay the jail sentence and fine pending appeal.