SHAH ALAM: Two foreigners were sentenced to death by the High Court here today after they were found guilty of the murder of a local Grab driver five years ago.
Judge Nurulhuda Nur’aini Mohamad Nor handed down the sentence on Myanmar national Sua Lay, 38, and Indian national Gurpreet Singh, 28, after they failed to raise a reasonable doubt at the end of their defence.
In her judgment, Nurulhuda said no defence had been put forth or raised in the murder of the driver of the p-hailing service.
She said the argument by both accused that they did not understand Bahasa Malaysia was also not acceptable as they were able to give the victim directions to stop prior to reaching their original destination.
In addition, she said, both men were able to lead the police to the discovery of the victim’s Perodua Myvi car key.
“The victim was strangled and there were injuries on his neck. The DNA of both accused were also found on the driver’s seat belt.
“Although it cannot be said to be (a) cruel (murder), the fact remains that the victim was left in the car. This shows the accused had no compassion for the deceased. On this basis, I concur with the prosecution’s submission and sentence them to death by hanging,” she said.
On July 16, 2018, Sua Lay and Gurpreet were charged at the Selayang Magistrates Court for murdering the Grab driver on June 21 of the same year.
They were jointly charged with killing Grab driver, Aiman Nosri, 27, at a carpark in the back alley of Block C, Taman Selayang Makmur, Selayang Baru, Batu Caves, at 10.18 pm on June 21, 2018.
They were charged under Section 302 of the Penal Code, which is punishable by the mandatory death sentence, upon conviction.
During mitigation, lawyers Siti Anis Che Ab Wahab and Muhamad Amirul Jamaluddin, representing both accused, requested for their clients to be sentenced to 30 years imprisonment and 12 strokes of the cane, based on the amendment under Section 302 of the Penal Code, which allows for discretion in meting out either the death sentence or jail and caning.
Muhamad Amirul said although there was a loss of life, there was no direct evidence presented in court that the accused killed the victim and the court rarely meted out the maximum sentence unless it involved a hardcore criminal.
However, deputy public prosecutor Mohammed Heikal Ismail called for a deterrent sentence and for the court to take into account the public interest.
“Murder is a most serious offence. The accused committed a heinous crime. Therefore, a death sentence by hanging is considered a commensurate punishment for those who are convicted,” he said.
