PUTRAJAYA, Sept 3 — The conviction and 22 years jail sentence imposed on a self-employed man by the Court of Appeal for causing the death of his teenage girlfriend, is maintained.
This was after deputy public prosecutor Datuk Nazran Mohd Sham informed the Federal Court three-member panel today that the prosecution was withdrawing its appeal against the appellate court’s decision.
Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak Datuk Abang Iskandar Abang Hashim who sat on the panel with Federal Court judges Datuk Vernon Ong Lam Kiat and Datuk Zabariah Mohd Yusof subsequently struck out the appeal.
The prosecution had filed the appeal against the Sept 12, 2019 Court of Appeal’s decision which set aside Poon Wai Hong’s murder conviction and substituted his charge to culpable homicide not amounting to murder.
The 30-year-old man (Poon) was initially found guilty by the High Court on April 3, 2018 for the murder of Ng Yuk Tim, a cosplay enthusiast, whose remains he stuffed in a suitcase. He was sentenced to death.
The Court of Appeal three-man bench led by Datuk Kamardin Hashim found that Poon’s conviction for murder was not safe to be upheld and had reduced the charge to culpable homicide not amounting to murder. The Court then sentenced Poon to 22 years jail to run from the date of his arrest on October 22, 2013.
According to the charge sheet, Poon committed the offence in a house at Kampung Cempaka in Kelana Jaya between 3pm and 4pm on October 21, 2013.
The incident happened after the deceased had gone to his house to work on cosplay costumes for an event.
In the Court of Appeal, Poon’s counsel Datuk Rajpal Singh submitted that an argument ensued after the girl did not want to have sex with him.
The lawyer said it was Poon’s version that the deceased bit one of his hands and took a stun gun to immobilise him and he pushed her, causing her to fall and her head hit a dumbbell.
Lawyer S.Yogasheelan appeared for Poon in the proceedings in the Federal Court today.
Outside the court, Chan Yen Hui, a lawyer who held a watching brief for the deceased’s family said the prosecution did not give reasons for withdrawing the appeal, adding that she would be writing to the deputy public prosecutor to get an explanation. — Bernama
