Pendakwa Raya v AMIRUL AMIN BIN AMIRRUDDIN

Case Significance

Shows the reduction of a section 302 murder charge to culpable homicide not amounting to murder under section 304(b) of the Penal Code on a guilty plea, and the weight given to youth, first-offender status, cooperation and remorse in fixing a seven-year term.

This High Court decision at Klang concerns a homicide prosecution brought by the Public Prosecutor (Pendakwa Raya) that began as a murder charge under section 302 of the Penal Code (Kanun Keseksaan) and was reduced, in the course of proceedings, to a charge of culpable homicide not amounting to murder under section 304(b), using the power in section 158(1) of the Criminal Procedure Code. The prosecution alleged that the accused had killed a young woman at a house in Kampung Sri Pandan, Klang, in August 2022. Its evidence, given by eleven witnesses including forensic and pathology officers, was that the accused had contacted a witness by WhatsApp and then by video call, during which he uncovered the deceased and said he had smothered her face with a pillow; the witness reported the matter to the police, leading to the accused's arrest. The court analysed whether the death resulted from the injuries the deceased sustained and whether those injuries were caused by the accused's act, referring to section 300(d) of the Penal Code and section 17(2) of the Evidence Act 1950, and concluded that the conduct amounted to culpable homicide not amounting to murder under section 299. The accused pleaded guilty to the amended charge and was convicted on it. In sentencing, the court applied the principle in Public Prosecutor v Jafa bin Daud that a sentence must be assessed according to established judicial principles, and weighed that the accused was young, a first offender who had cooperated with the police, shown remorse and not fled. It noted that the accused had reported his own conduct to a witness by video call, had cooperated with the police by showing them where the body was, had acknowledged that the deceased was his girlfriend and had not attempted to flee, all of which pointed to genuine remorse. Balancing the public interest with the accused's interest and prospects of rehabilitation, and treating the killing as a serious matter that had taken a life, the court imposed a sentence of seven years' imprisonment from the date of the accused's arrest ("penjara selama 7 tahun dari tarikh OKT ditangkap").