OFF TO PRISON: Hoe Ing being led out of court after sentencing.
SIBU: One of the three accused originally charged with murdering a bank manager was yesterday sentenced to 16 years’ jail after being offered a lesser charge of culpable homicide not amounting to murder.
Ling Hoe Ing, 25, (the third accused), who looked calm when the sentence was announced, thus escaped the gallows.
Earlier, he understood and pleaded guilty to the alternative charge framed under Section 304(a) of the Penal Code which carries the maximum 30 years’ jail and also liable to a fine.
The charge preferred against him stated that he caused the death of Wong Jing Kui, based on the instigation of Tiong King Guan (first accused) and on the conspiracy between Tiong King Guan and Ling Hang Tsyr (second accused).
Hoe Ing was originally charged with murder under Section 302 of the Penal Code which carries the mandatory death penalty if convicted.
The other two accused, 26-year-old salesman Tiong and Hang Tsyr, 31, who was the wife of the slain bank manager Jing Kui, 31, are charged with abetting the murder under Section 109 and Section 302 of the Penal Code, read together with Section 34 of the same code for the common intention of the crime.
Tiong also faces additional three charges under Section 115 of the Penal Code for abetment, an offence punishable with death, or imprisonment for life.
Hoe Ing was represented by David Kuok while Tiong by Orlando Chua and Hang Tsyr was defended by three lawyers, namely Anthony Tai, Sempurai Petrus and Roger Chin.
In passing sentence, Justice Supang Lian, who convicted Hoe Ing on his own plea of guilty said the facts revealed that the killing was done in cold blood.
She said the victim was married to the second accused and the latter was the girlfriend of the first accused who apparently wanted the victim killed. The third accused, a young man, was in debt of RM13,000 that he desperately needed to settle.
At the instigation of the first accused, she said, the third accused killed the victim in return for a settlement of his debt. She said the third accused was able to gain entry into the house of the victim and into the bedroom where the killing took place because the second accused had left the back door of the house and the bedroom door open.
“Public interest calls for a deterrent and adequate punishment to be meted out for crimes as serious as this. There is no denying that the taking of a life is a serious crime in particular when, as in this case, it is premeditated and planned.
“Learned counsel for the third accused has submitted on the authority of Bachik Abdul Rahman v PP (2004] 2 CLJ 572) that credit should be given to the third accused for pleading guilty. In Bachik Abdul Rahman’s case, the Court of Appeal spoke of a reduction of about 1/3 of the sentence that would otherwise have been imposed is normally given.
“I take note of the principle enunciated, but of course, the credit to be given must take into account the desirability to strike a balance between the interest of the public and that of the accused.
“The third accused was young at the time of commission of the offence and has no previous record. He is said to be penitent and had at the first opportunity readily pleaded guilty to the reduced charge. Indeed, it has been said before that a guilty plea is an indication of remorse.
“By pleading guilty he has saved court’s time and reduced public expense. Having considered the relevant factors and weighing in the balance the interest of the public and that of the accused, I think it just in the circumstances to pass a sentence of 16 years’ jail which is to take effect from the date of arrest,” Supang concluded.
In mitigation prior to passing sentence, Hoe Ling represented by Defence Counsel David Kuok, told the court that his client was only 23 years old when he committed the crime, which is certainly not an age of ripest wisdom.
He said the accused was not brought up in an ideal environment, and his parents had never been in the best of health.
“Due to financial constraint, he has not been able to receive proper education and he started work at 15. Ever since he was arrested on Aug 15 last year and incarcerated in Sibu Prison, his conscience has been pricking him.
“The accused has therefore long decided to plead guilty to the alternative charge in order to clear his conscience. He deeply regretted for the crime committed in particular the very thought of the pain and suffering suffered by the deceased family.
“The accused is a first offender and he is now prepared to turn crown witness,” Kuok stated.
DPP Musli Hamid, meanwhile, said the accused had committed a very serious offence. The facts of the case were very clear to show how the offence was committed.
Therefore, he urged the court to impose an appropriate sentence and added that the accused was going to be the prosecution witness for the other cases.
It was earlier reported that at 1.30am on June 14 last year, police found Wong’s body in a pool of blood in the master bedroom of his house in Ulu Sungai Merah Road.
The pathologist said the 31-year-old had slash wounds on his neck and was also stabbed in the chest and stomach.
He also sustained defensive wounds on both arms.
Only his wife and their three-year-old son were said to be in the house when the murder occurred.
Hang Tsyr reportedly told police then, that she woke up upon hearing her husband struggling with an intruder and that the intruder had fled when she turned on the lights.