24 years for man who stabbed bird’s nest trader to death

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TAWAU: A 44-year-old man who stabbed a 43-year-old woman bird’s nest trader 16 times in a botched cheating attempt was yesterday sentenced to 24 years’ jail by the Sessions Court here.

Judge Egusra Ali meted out the sentence on Husin bin Nik, 44, who pleaded guilty to a charge under Section 304(a) of the Penal Code, which carries up to 30 years’ jail and a fine. Egusra ordered the sentence to run from the date of the man’s arrest.

Husin caused the death of Sang Sui Fong on April 6 this year between 11am to 2pm at Mile 24, Kalabakan-Sapulut Road.

Prosecuting officer Inspector Joan Lee told the court that the accused had admitted to deceiving the victim into meeting him for a non-existent bird’s nest transaction on April 6.

The accused led the victim to the scene of the crime in the victim’s car some distance away from public viewwith the intention to cheat.

When the victim realized that she was being cheated, the accused stabbed her with a knife and took her bag containing cash, documents and two cellular phones.

A post-mortem conducted on the victim revealed 16 stab wounds with one on the left side of her chest that caused her death.

On April 24 at about 9.30 pm, acting on public information, police detained the accused at Hotel Mostyn, Kunak.

In his mitigation plea, the accused asked for leniency as he has a wife and five children. However, the prosecution urged the court to impose the maximum sentence as the accused had planned the crime and inflicted severe injuries that caused the death of the victim.

Joan said the victim was a breadwinner with a daughter and a son who are still schooling while her husband works as a mechanic.

The victim’s family now faced hardship after her death and her children’s schooling were also affected as a result of the action of the accused, she added.