PUTRAJAYA: A Myanmar national has escaped the gallows after the Court of Appeal substituted his death sentence with 30 years’ imprisonment for murdering his employer, a local woman.
A panel of three judges, comprising Datuk Nazlan Mohd Ghazali, Datuk Azmi Ariffin, and Datuk Dr Choo Kah Sing, had, on April 17, dismissed Than Nwe Soe’s appeal against conviction but allowed his appeal against the sentence.
The court also imposed 12 strokes of the cane on Than and ordered him to serve the prison sentence from the date of his arrest, which was April 13, 2018.
In a written judgment dated June 6, Datuk Azmi Ariffin stated that after reviewing all the evidence, the court found the case suitable for the exercise of judicial discretion under the Abolition of Mandatory Death Penalty Act 2023 to substitute the death sentence with imprisonment.
He added that the Act, which came into force on July 4, 2023, gave the court discretionary power to choose between imposing the death penalty or imprisonment of between 30 to 40 years, along with at least 12 strokes of the cane if the death penalty was not imposed.
Justice Azmi said the appeal filed by Than had no merit, and the conviction for murder was safe to be upheld.
He said that the accused (Than) and an individual still at large were fully responsible for causing injuries and death to Goh Geok Leng.
He added that a colleague of the accused had been informed by Than that he (the accused) had kept the deceased’s body in a container, and based on that information, police found the victim’s body under the container where the accused resided.
Justice Azmi said there were also findings of the accused’s DNA and the deceased’s DNA at the location where the body was found under the accused’s container, which further strengthened the prosecution’s case.
On Jan 30, 2023, the Johor Bahru High Court found Than guilty of murdering Goh, 43, and sentenced him to death. Than subsequently filed an appeal with the Court of Appeal.
He was accused of committing the offence with an individual still at large, at the Yu-Win Motor Trading Sdn Bhd premises in Kg Sri Purnama, Johor, at about 2 pm on April 13, 2018.
The victim was found half-naked, with her eyes blindfolded, her mouth gagged, and her hands and feet shackled with chains.
