Friday October 16, 2009

Eight-year sentence for killing wife’s lover in jealous rage

By LISA GOH

KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court sentences a father of three to eight years’ jail for causing the death of his wife’s lover in a fit of rage after seeing them having sex.

Lee Meng Ching, 36, pleaded guilty to hitting Chong Swee Sang (who was 45 when he died) with a wooden stick and causing his death four years ago. Lee committed the manslaughter at a house in Jalan Chan Sow Lin in Cheras at 4am on June 22, 2005.

According to the statement of facts, Lee went to Chong’s house looking for his wife, knowing that the two were having an affair.

Realising Lee’s presence, Chong asked the woman to quickly hide outside the house.

Illegal items: DCP Mohd Mokhtar showing the drugs and items that were seized from the drug lab in Taman Desa Jaya while Johor deputy police chief SAC I Datuk Jalaluddin Ab Rahman (second from left) and other police personnel look on during a press conference yesterday.

Peeking through a hole in the wall of the house, the woman saw Lee entered the house and heard Chong shouting: “Enough! Enough!”.

She also heard her husband asking Chong where she was. Chong replied that he did not know.

A fight ensued for about 30 minutes before Lee left.

Lee’s wife went into the house and found Chong lying in a pool of blood, with his left leg broken.

Chong then asked his lover to quickly leave, fearing that Lee would return and hurt her as well.

Chong’s body was found the next morning by a colleague at 9.30am.

In mitigation, counsel K. A. Ramu said his client’s reaction was due to provocation and anger when he peeped through the front door of Chong’s house he saw his wife and Chong naked and having sex.

Ramu also said Lee had previously warned Chong to leave his wife alone. He said the couple’s children — ages 14, 11 and six — were now being cared for by his relatives because his wife had abandoned them.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Ahmad Akram Gharib argued that manslaughter was a serious offence and the deceased’s injuries showed that Lee was a violent man.

In passing sentence, Judicial Commissioner Azman Abdullah said the court did not deny the fact that one life was taken and that the deceased had been a husband and had a 14-year-old disabled child.

“However, the court also considered the fact that the accused had been provoked, and the fact that the weapon used was found outside the deceased’s house. This shows that the incident was not planned and that the accused did not bring the weapon with him,” he said.

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