PUTRAJAYA: An odd job worker who was found guilty of killing his village friend and living with the corpse for four days, had his death sentence commuted to 30 years' jail by the Court of Appeal today.
The three-man panel led by judge Datuk Hadhariah Syed Ismail also ordered Mohd Azhud Ibrahim, 33, to be given 12 strokes of the rotan.
The panel which comprised Justices Datuk Azmi Ariffin and Datuk S.M. Komathy Suppiah also dismissed Mohd Azhud's appeal to overturn his conviction.
The court, however, substituted the death sentence imposed on Mohd Azhud to 30 years' jail with 12 strokes of the rotan.
In affirming Mohd Azhud's conviction for the murder offence, Justice Hadhariah said circumstantial evidence showed that it was the accused who murdered Ahmad Azam Ahmad.
Mohd Azhud was appealing against the Feb 21, 2023 decision of the Ipoh High Court in sentencing him to death after finding him guilty for killing Ahmad Azam, 43, at a house in Lorong Mohd Ali Kampung Bahagia, Teluk Intan, Perak at 12.10 midnight on Aug 10, 2018.
According to the facts of the case, a friend of Mohd Azhud who went to the house smelled a foul odour inside the house. He asked Mohd Azhud about foul odour and Mohd Azhud told him that there was a dead person. The friend said Mohd Azhud had said "I am angry with him for a long time. I am upset.
In his testimony from the dock, Mohd Azhud claimed that he had no intention of murdering his friend after both were involved in a fight. He said he hit his friend to protect himself as his friend was aggressive at that time.
He claimed after the fight, he took ganja and slept for two days and when he woke up he realised the deceased was lying motionless on the floor and was not breathing. He said he had thought of digging a hole at the back of his house to bury Ahmad Azam's body but could not bring himself to do it so he decided to live together with the body.
A post mortem report showed that the deceased sustained 23 external injuries and severe injuries to the head and chest.
Lawyer Gurbachan Singh, Gobindeep Singh and Aashwini Rajan represented Mohd Azhud while deputy public prosecutor Zaki Ashraf Zubir appeared for the prosecution. – BERNAMA
