Kota Kinabalu: A 45-year-old carpenter who killed a 25-year-old man three years ago was jailed 34 years and ordered to get 12 strokes of the cane.
High Court Judge Datuk Dr. Lim Hock Leng meted out the sentence to Jan Esa, a IMM13 document holder when his case was brought up for sentencing on Friday.
Jan was previously found guilty of murdering Chung Zi Qian between 1.24pm and 5pm on Feb 22, 2022 in a bushes area facing the Kota Kinabalu San Ching Taoism Association Temple, here.
He was convicted under Section 302 of the Penal Code carries the death penalty, or imprisonment for up to 40 years, and with whipping atleast 12 strokes of the cane, upon conviction.
The court had ruled that the prosecution had proven it’s case beyond reasonable doubt against Jan.
Earlier, counsel Abdul Fikry Jaafar Abdullah prayed for no death sentence as Jan was remoseful.
Jan, who was given a chance to mitigate himself, said he regretted what had happened, especially to the victim’s family.
“I know that it would not be the same for the family...I apologise to the family for my wrongdoing. Whatever happened, I don’t have intention or plan to kill the victim,” he said.
However, Deputy Public Prosecutor Dacia Jane Romanus urged the court to impose the death sentence even though the mandatory death sentence had been abolished.
The impact statement read by Dacia, stated that the murder incident had affected the family, especially the victim’s father whose behaviour had totally changed.
After the victim’s death, the whole family was traumatised and feared that the ‘killer’ would come after them.
The impact statement also stated that the mother hoped the death sentence be given to the accused as the family had lost one of their family member because of the accused’s act.
Eight prosecution witnesses and only a defence witness had been called.
After serving the jail sentence, Jan was ordered referred to the Immigration Department.
