SIBU: A 17-year-old boy found guilty by the High Court here of murdering four members of a family in RTM Road last year will know his fate on Sept 23 when the court passes the sentence.
Justice Supang Lian yesterday said she had found the accused guilty of four counts of murder and one count of attempted murder.
At the conclusion of the case, she ruled the prosecution had made out a prima facie case against him on all the charges against him and called upon him to enter his defence. He elected to remain silent.
Supang quoted the Federal Court in Balachandran v PP [2005} 1 CLJ 85 which decided as follows: “Since the court, in ruling that a prima facie has been made out, must be satisfied that the evidence adduced can be overthrown only by evidence in rebuttal, it follows that if it is not rebutted it must prevail. Thus, if the accused elects to remain silent he must be convicted.”
In the circumstances, she pointed out, as the accused had elected to remain silent, on the evidence adduced she found that the prosecution had proved its case against the accused on all five charges beyond reasonable doubt.
“The accused is therefore found guilty of the four counts of murder and guilty of one count of attempted murder. Accordingly, I convict him on all five charges.
“In view that the accused was under the age of 18 years at the time of the commission of the offences, I order for a probation report to be prepared in his respect. The report is to be prepared within a month from today (Aug 19) and to be forwarded to the Court on or before Sept 19.
“In the meantime, the prosecution is to ascertain from the family of the victims whether they wish to make a statement on the impact of the offences on them,” she stated.
Supang scheduled the case to be brought up on Sept 23 for the reading of the probation report, mitigation, DPP’s submission, victims’ impact statement, if any, and sentencing.
On Jan 3 last year, timber and shipping businessman Ling Tong Hock, 36, along with his mother Leong Nyuk Lan, 76, and his two children, David Ling Chei Qi, 10, and Amy Ling Zi Jiun, seven, were found murdered in their double-storey terraced house in RTM Road here.
Ling’s wife Li Xian Lan, a 28-year-old China national, escaped the attack while Ling’s eight-year-old son Kelvin Ling Chei You survived the attack.