Senior citizen acquitted of murder, escapes gallows

PUTRAJAYA: The Court of Appeal has set aside a senior citizen’s conviction and death sentence for the murder of his disabled stepsister-in-law six years ago, acquitting and discharging him.

A three-member panel comprising Justices Datuk Hashim Hamzah, Datuk Mohamed Zaini Mazlan and Datuk Noorin Badaruddin, unanimously allowed Muhammad Johari Ng Abdullah’s appeal against the High Court’s decision delivered in January last year.

Delivering the appellate court’s decision on Monday (July 7), Justice Hashim held that the circumstantial evidence adduced at trial was insufficient to sustain a conviction.

“Therefore, we find the conviction to be unsafe. As such, the conviction and sentence are set aside, and the appeal is allowed,”  he said.

Following the decision, Johari, 66, expressed his gratitude to the panel of judges.

The former security guard was initially sentenced to death by the High Court for the murder of 26-year-old Nor Izzati Ghazali, who had dwarfism.

The offence was alleged to have taken place at an apartment in Villa Apartment, Jalan Temenggong 19, off Jalan Sungai Jati in Klang, Selangor, at 2pm on Feb 19, 2019.

During Monday’s proceedings, Johari’s counsel, Hafizuddin Salehuddin, argued that the trial judge had erred in failing to consider the reasonable possibility of another individual, namely the stepsister of the deceased, being involved in the commission of the offence.

“There is no irresistible conclusion that the appellant was the one who caused the death of the deceased.

“We respectfully request the court to acquit and discharge him,” said Hafizuddin, who was assisted by Hilmi Zawawi.

Deputy public prosecutor Faizal @ Amrin Noor Hadi, however, asserted that the trial judge had not erred in his findings and urged the Court of Appeal to uphold the conviction and sentence.

According to the facts of the case, a neighbour stated in a police report that the deceased had previously complained to him and his wife about being physically assaulted and abused by the appellant.

A post-mortem examination revealed 24 clusters of injuries distributed across the body of the deceased. – Bernama