A rubber tapper avoids the death penalty as the Court of Appeal commutes his sentence to 60 years in jail and 24 strokes of the cane for killing two elderly men.
PUTRAJAYA: A rubber tapper has escaped the gallows after the Court of Appeal commuted his death sentence for a double murder to a lengthy prison term.
The three-member bench led by Datuk Azman Abdullah ordered Muhammad Huzairi Razali, 41, to serve 30 years in prison for each of the two murder charges.
The court also ordered him to be given 24 strokes of the cane.
Justice Azman said there was no error by the High Court in rejecting Muhammad Huzairi’s defence of unsoundness of mind and that his conviction was safe.
However, the court partly allowed his appeal on sentence, noting it was empowered to commute the death penalty to imprisonment.
Accordingly, the court sentenced him to 30 years’ imprisonment and 12 strokes of the cane for each charge.
Justice Azman ordered the prison sentences 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 71-year-old Ku Cheng Liong @ Ku Sot at a coffee shop in Segamat, Johor, on July 12, 2019.
He was also charged with murdering 67-year-old Ng Wan Hong at a durian stall in the same area just minutes later.
The High Court had convicted him on both charges and sentenced him to death on January 27, 2024.
According to the case facts, Muhammad Huzairi first attacked Ku with a parang at the coffee shop, killing him instantly.
He then went to the durian stall, where he stabbed Ng in the chest during a struggle.
Ng later 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.
Lawyer Abraham Mathew appeared for Muhammad Huzairi at the Court of Appeal today.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Siti Rafidah Zainuddin appeared for the prosecution.
