Federal Court reduces Yew Wei Liang’s jail term to 12 years

PUTRAJAYA: A former IT officer convicted of causing the death of bank officer Syed Muhammad Danial Syed Shakir in a road rage incident had his sentence reduced.

The Federal Court cut Yew Wei Liang’s prison term from 16 years to 12 years after allowing his appeal on Wednesday (Dec 3).

Yew, 47, sobbed in the dock upon hearing the decision.

A three-judge panel chaired by Justice Nordin Hassan upheld his conviction but found the 16-year term excessive.

The Shah Alam High Court imposed the 16-year sentence in 2023.

“The sentence imposed is a bit high, so we reduce the sentence from 16 years to 12,” Justice Nordin said.

The other judges were Justices Vazeer Alam Mydin Meera and Lee Swee Seng.

The panel dismissed cross appeals by both prosecution and defence and upheld conviction under Section 304(a) of the Penal Code.

“We find that the decision by the Court of Appeal is safe.There is no error for us to disturb the decision,” said Justice Nordin.

Deputy public prosecutor Ng Siew Wee earlier sought to reinstate the initial Section 302 murder charge.

Section 302 carries the death penalty or a maximum 40-year jail term and at least 12 strokes of the rotan.

Yew’s lawyer Datuk N. Sivananthan urged a substitution to Section 304(b) which provides a maximum 10 year term.

Section 304(a) provides for up to 30 years’ imprisonment.

Sivananthan said his client will be released in two years’ time in 2027.

He said Yew, imprisoned since his arrest on August 10, 2019, will serve a total of eight years.

He said Yew was initially not optimistic but is relieved with the outcome, adding the reduction is substantial and a pleasant surprise for Yew’s family.

“When I went to see him in the dock immediately after the decision, his face lit up,” he said.

“Whatever it is, someone died and Yew is paying the price,” he added.

In 2023, the High Court sentenced Yew to 16 years starting from the date of arrest.

On August 22, 2019, Yew was charged with murdering Syed Muhammad Danial, 29, at KM293.6 of the PLUS Highway.

The incident occurred between 1pm and 2pm on August 10, 2019.

It began near the Sungai Besi toll plaza and escalated into a physical altercation.

Syed Muhammad Danial allegedly alighted with a baseball bat and swung at the front of Yew’s car.

This supposedly caused Yew to accelerate and ram into him.

The victim was pinned between the car and the divider and later died at Nilai Medical Centre.

Syed Muhammad Danial left behind a wife and a newborn child.

Yew’s pregnant wife suffered a miscarriage after the incident.