Court of Appeal commutes death sentence of three convicted of murder to imprisonment

PUTRAJAYA - Three friends who have been convicted of murder escaped the gallows after the Court of Appeal here today commuted the mandatory death sentence with imprisonment.

A panel of three judges led by Datuk Vazeer Alam Mydin Meera, in a unanimous decision, commuted the sentence after allowing the appeal by B. Davendran, 30, K. Neelamegan, 29, and P. Hurisudhan, 32, to set aside their conviction under Section 302 of the Penal Code and replaced it with a conviction and punishment under Section 304(a) of the same code.

"After taking into account the submissions by the lawyers and the prosecution, we sentenced the first appellant (Davendran) to 12 years in prison, while the second appellant (Neelamegan) and the third appellant (Hurisudhan) are each sentenced to 10 years in prison.

"They are to serve the jail sentence from the date of their arrest,” said Vazeer Alam, sitting with judges Datu Azman Abdullah and Datuk Azmi Ariffin.

Davendran was arrested on June 18, 2018, while Neelamegan and Hurisudhan were arrested on June 14, 2018.

Earlier, Azmi, who also read out part of the judgment, said the court found that the trial judge (High Court) failed to delve deeply into the provisions under Section 299 of the Penal Code (wrongfully killing people).

"If the facts in the evidence submitted in this case are refined and given sufficient consideration, we are confident that the trial judge will reach a different decision, which is by lowering the offence section from Section 300 of the Penal Code which, can be punished under Section 302 of the Penal Code, to Section 299 of the Penal Code which can be punished under Section 304 (a) of the same law," he said.

He said the failure of the trial judge to amend the offence prejudiced the three appellants which should be corrected by the appeal court to ensure that no injustice is done to them (appellants).

"Accordingly, this court allows the appeal of the three appellants to set aside Section 302 of the Penal Code and replace the conviction under Section 304 (a) of the Penal Code," said the judge.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Fuad Aziz prosecuted, while lawyer Gurubachan S. Johal represented Davendran. Neelamegan and Hurisudhan were represented by lawyers Datuk Rajpal Singh and Amer Hamzah Arshad respectively

The three men were sentenced to death by the Kuala Lumpur High Court on Oct 15, 2021, for causing the death of a 58-year-old man under the Perumahan Awam Rakyat Wangsa Maju block at 8 pm on April 18, 2018. - BERNAMA