PUTRAJAYA: An unemployed man who beheaded his father and chopped off the victim's legs and hands escaped the gallows after the Federal Court here today substituted the death sentence to 35 years in jail.
A panel of three judges comprising Chief Judge of Malaya Tan Sri Mohamad Zabidin Mohd Diah and Federal Court judges Datuk Mary Lim Thiam Suan and Datuk Abu Bakar Jais held that there was merit in You Poh Khoon's appeal against the death sentence.
In delivering the court's decision, Justice Mohamad Zabidin set aside the death sentence imposed by the High Court and replaced it with the jail sentence.
"The appellant should be given a chance to serve the jail term," he said.
Justice Mohamad Zabidin ordered Poh Khoon to serve the jail sentence from the date of arrest, which was October 9, 2018, and also spared the man from whipping as he is over 50 years-old.
Earlier, You's lawyer, Amir Faliq Mohamad Jamil, informed the court that the Attorney-General's Chambers had allowed his client's representation for him (Poh Khoon) to withdraw his appeal against the conviction and for the death sentence to be substituted with a jail sentence.
You, 58, was sentenced to death by the High Court on May 24, 2022, after he was found guilty of killing his 74-year-old father, You Su Kim, between 3pm on October 8, 2018, and 10.30am the following day in their house in Khatan Baru, Chemor, Ipoh, Perak.
He lost his appeal at the Court of Appeal on March 6, last year.
According to media reports, You killed his father by severing his head and chopping up his body after the deceased scolded him for consuming drugs at home. The victim's head was buried in the backyard while the body parts were dumped in a 1.5m-deep sewage hole.
In mitigation, Amir Faliq said his client was the only one among four siblings who took care of their cancer-stricken father, who became bedridden after he was diagnosed with prostate cancer three months earlier.
He said his client's family members were also hopeful that he would be spared the death sentence as they have lost their father.
Deputy public prosecutor How May Ling asked the court to impose between 30 to 40 years jail sentence saying that forensic evidence showed there were slash wounds to the neck of the deceased which caused his death and 15 other injuries.
The deceased's hands and leg were also severed, she added.
You was placed under observation at Hospital Bahagia Ulu Kinta, Perak, for 22 days and a prosecution witness Dr Ian Lloyd Anthony testified during the trial that he was of sound mind at the time of the offence. — BERNAMA