ALOR SETAR: A former soldier escaped the gallows after the Federal Court commuted his mandatory death penalty to 38 years imprisonment and 12 strokes of the cane for the murder of a single mother 10 years ago.
A three-judge panel, led by Chief Justice Tun Tengku Maimun Mat, unanimously granted Mohammad Yusyairi Saidin’s application for review under Sections 2(4) and 3(1) of the Revision of Sentence of Death and Imprisonment for Natural Life (Temporary Jurisdiction of the Federal Court) Act 2023.
Justice Tengku Maimun yesterday set aside the death sentence handed down to Mohammad Yusyairi, 46, by the High Court on Sept 26, 2017, and substituted it with a 38-year jail term starting from the date of his arrest on Sept 24, 2014.
Mohammad Yusyairi has already served 10 years of his sentence.
Also presiding were Court of Appeal president Tan Sri Abang Iskandar Abang Hashim and Federal Court judge Datuk Nordin Hassan.According to the statement of facts, on Sept 21, 2014, at around 7.30am, police received a phone call from a member of the public reporting the discovery of a body at KM10 of the Gunung Inas R&R along Jalan Baling.
Preliminary investigations identified the victim as Hasma Norlela Zaini, 53, a mother of seven.
She was found with multiple stab and slash wounds.
Subsequently, police arrested Mohammad Yusyairi on Sept 24, 2014, in front of the 4th Battalion Regiment Camp in Gerik, Perak.
Mohammad Yusyairi was convicted by the High Court and appealed the decision.
However, the Federal Court upheld his conviction and sentence on Oct 27, 2021.
Earlier in the proceeding yesterday, deputy public prosecutor Datuk Yusaini Amer Abdul Karim requested the court to impose a 40-year prison sentence on Mohammad Yusyairi, considering the excessive injuries sustained by the victim.
