RUBBER TAPPER ESCAPES GALLOWS, SENT TO JAIL FOR DOUBLE MURDER

PUTRAJAYA, Jan 19 (Bernama) -- A rubber tapper escaped the gallows after the Court of Appeal today commuted the death sentence imposed on him for the murder of two elderly men to a jail term.

A three-member bench led by Datuk Azman Abdullah ordered Muhammad Huzairi Razali, 41, to serve a 30-year prison sentence for each of the two charges.

The bench, which also comprised Court of Appeal judge Datuk Mohd Radzi Abdul Hamid and High Court judge Datuk Amarjeet Singh, also ordered Muhammad Huzairi to be given 24 strokes of the cane.

Justice Azman, who delivered the court’s decision, said there was no error by the High Court in rejecting Muhammad Huzairi’s defence of unsoundness of mind and that his (Muhammad Huzairi’s) conviction was safe.

However, he said the court partly allowed Muhammad Huzairi’s appeal on sentence, noting that the court was empowered to commute the death sentence to imprisonment.

Accordingly, Justice Azman said the court sentenced Muhammad Huzairi to 30 years’ imprisonment and 12 strokes of the cane for each charge.

He ordered the prison sentence to be served consecutively as the offences involved two victims and were committed at different locations.

On the first charge, Muhammad Huzairi was accused of murdering Ku Cheng Liong @ Ku Sot, 71, at a coffee shop on Jalan Abdullah, Pekan Buloh Kasap, Segamat, Johor, at 5.50 pm on July 12, 2019.

He was also charged with murdering Ng Wan Hong, 67, at a durian stall on Jalan Ibrahim, Pekan Buloh Kasap, at 6.03 pm the same day.

On Jan 27, 2024, the High Court convicted Muhammad Huzairi on both charges and sentenced him to death. 

According to the facts of the case, Muhammad Huzairi first attacked Ku with a parang at the coffee shop, killing him instantly. Muhammad Huzairi then went to the durian stall, where he stabbed Ng in the chest during a struggle. Ng succumbed to his injuries at the Buloh Kasap Health Clinic.

In his defence, Muhammad Huzairi claimed he could not remember the incidents and said he was suffering from a psychiatric illness.

At the Court of Appeal today, lawyer Abraham Mathew appeared for Muhammad Huzairi while Deputy Public Prosecutor Siti Rafidah Zainuddin appeared for the prosecution.

-- BERNAMA