PUTRAJAYA: Two men escaped the gallows on Thursday (Aug 15) when the Federal Court commuted their death sentences to 36 years in prison and 12 strokes of the cane each for robbery and the fatal shooting of a security guard 12 years ago.
The three-judge panel, led by Chief Justice Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat, granted the review applications of Mohd Hafizuddin Zainal Abidin, 37, and Cheah Cheong Tatt, 35, substituting their death sentences with imprisonment under the Revision of Sentence of Death and Imprisonment for Natural Life (Temporary Jurisdiction of the Federal Court) Act 2023.
Justice Tengku Maimun, presiding alongside Justices Hanipah Farikullah and Vazeer Alam Mydin Meera, also ordered that Mohd Hafizuddin's prison term commence from his arrest on Sept 25, 2012, and Cheah's from Sept 21 of the same year.
Mohd Hafizuddin, who was a security guard with Safeguards G4S Sdn Bhd at the time of the incident, was found guilty of robbing his employer of RM1.2mil in cash and firing a shot that killed his colleague, Hasnul Hafis Saad, 28, who was the security van driver.
Cheah, a supervisor at a private company at the time, was found guilty of acting as his accomplice during the robbery, fully aware that Mohd Hafizuddin was armed.
The offence was committed in front of a supermarket at Jalan Tekah, Aulong, Taiping, Perak, between 2pm and 3.25pm on Sept 18, 2012.
Mohd Hafizuddin was charged under Section 3 of the Firearms (Increased Penalties) Act 1971, while Cheah was charged under Section 3A of the same Act, which both carrid mandatory death sentences.
On Dec 29, 2016, the Taiping High Court in Perak sentenced the two men to death by hanging after concluding that the prosecution had presented solid evidence of their guilt.
This sentence was upheld by the Court of Appeal in 2018 and the Federal Court in 2021.
Earlier in Thursday’s proceedings, lawyers Gurbachan Singh and Ramkarpal Singh, representing Mohd Hafizuddin and Cheah respectively, requested the court to impose a minimum 30-year prison sentence, arguing that their clients had no prior criminal records and were remorseful for their actions.
However, Deputy Public Prosecutor Muhamad Iskandar Ahmad sought a prison sentence of 36 to 38 years, emphasising the case's significance to public interest. – Bernama
