KOTA KINABALU: A car painter and an unemployed man were each sentenced to lengthy jail terms by the Sessions Courts here yesterday for causing the deaths of two men in separate cases.
Thien Tah Long, 35, was jailed for 20 years after he was found guilty of culpable homicide not amounting to the murder of his brother-in-law Clement Soh, 31, at an unnumbered house at Jalan Kionsom in Inanam on May 7, 2015.
Judge Ainul Shahrin Mohamed convicted him under Section 304 (a) of the Penal Code which provides for a maximum jail term of 30 years and also liable to a fine upon conviction.
The court held that the accused, who was represented by counsel Peter Allion, had failed to cast doubt on the prosecution’s case.
Earlier, in pleading for a light sentence, the accused’s counsel urged the court to impose a shorter custodial sentence without fine on the grounds that the accused was a first offender.
The counsel also submitted that the public interest could be best served if the accused was given an opportunity to reform himself to be a good citizen.
In reply, deputy public prosecutor (DPP) Hafizah Zahidah Abdullah submitted that the offence committed by the accused was a serious one who was involved in a fight that was not necessary.
Hafizah also urged the court not to be over sympathetic to the accused and to take into account public interest, especially the interest of the deceased’s family.
The prosecution said even though the accused had no intention of causing death to the deceased, but he asked whether the accused had shown mercy when he slashed the deceased which had caused his death.
Thien did not deserve mercy from court when he himself did not show any mercy towards human being, the prosecution added.
The accused was ordered to serve his jail term with effect from yesterday.
The prosecution had called 15 witnesses to testify against the accused since the trial commenced on July 7, 2015 and the defence called two witnesses, including the accused.
Thein was called to enter his defence after the court ruled that the prosecution had made out a prima facie case against him last month.
In the second case, Alkaiser Muin, 23, was jailed for 13 years for causing the death of a man six years ago.
Judge Indra Hj Ayub imposed the sentence on the accused after finding him guilty of committing culpable homicide not amounting to the murder of Binedictor Gitor Sini by hitting the deceased’s face and head at an area behind a company in Manggatal on March 29, 2010.
The court ruled that the accused had failed to prove its case beyond any reasonable doubt.
In mitigation, the accused, who was defended by counsel Intan Timor Samsuddin, submitted that her client is a youthful offender and the sole breadwinner.
The counsel urged the court to consider the accused’s age when committing the offence, as he was still young and if he was arrested at that time, his case would have been heard at the Juvenile’s Court.
Intan Timor also said that her client was only arrested in 2014, a few years after the incident.
DPP Mohd Khairuddin Idris rebutted that the punishment for this offence is a maximum jail of 30 years which shows that this offence is serious.
Moohd Khairuddin also urged the court to consider the facts of the case which was likely to cause the death of the deceased where the accused had repeatedly kicked the back of the deceased’s neck facing a fibre pipe, causing his nose to break and because of that the deceased had suffocated.
The prosecution added that because of the accused’s act, the deceased’s family members have to live without him.
The judge ordered the accused to serve his jail sentence from the date of his arrest on September 5, 2014.
The trial had started since January 14, 2015 with the prosecution having called 11 witnesses to give their oral evidence and the accused had called three witnesses for his defence, including himself.