PUTRAJAYA: The Court of Appeal has upheld the 16-year prison sentence on a former information technology employee for causing the death of bank manager Syed Muhammad Danial Syed Shakir in a road rage incident on the North-South Expressway.
A three-judge panel led by Datuk Che Mohd Ruzima Ghazali unanimously rejected the appeal of Yew Wei Liang, 47, against his conviction and sentence handed down by the Shah Alam High Court on Dec 7, 2023.
The judge stated that the court wanted to send a clear message for the public not to take the law into their own hands.
"We find the conviction by the High Court judge sound and the sentence imposed not excessive. Therefore, the sentence is upheld," said Che Mohd, who presided over the hearing with Datuk Mohamed Zaini Mazlan and Datuk Azmi Ariffin.
Che Mohd also dismissed the prosecution's cross-appeal seeking to reinstate Section 302 of the Penal Code against Yew for murder, ruling that the appeal lacked merit.
In 2023, the Shah Alam High Court sentenced Yew to 16 years' jail starting from the date of his arrest on Aug 10, 2019, after finding him guilty of culpable homicide.
On Aug 22, 2019, Yew was charged with the murder of Syed Muhammad Danial, 29, at KM293.6 of the PLUS Highway between 1pm and 2pm on Aug 10, 2019.
In the cross-appeal, Deputy Public Prosecutor Ng Siew Wee argued that the High Court judge erred in sentencing Yew for culpable homicide instead of a more severe charge.
"The accused stated that the incident happened quickly but the prosecution argues that despite the short duration, it does not prevent the court from inferring an intent to cause harm and death under Section 300 of the Penal Code," she said.
She argued that in his defence testimony, the accused stated that he saw the deceased (Syed Muhammad) rushing toward his car while holding a baseball bat, prompting him to shift gear from reverse to drive before hitting the victim.
"The accused said that he felt his life was in danger and wanted to protect himself and his pregnant wife who was in the vehicle at the time," she said.
However, she said, according to the video recording of the 19th prosecution witness, the accused's wife, he was not acting in self-defence nor protecting his property (car). Instead, he was angry and intended to "teach the deceased a lesson", adding that the 16-year prison sentence was appropriate and not excessive.
Meanwhile, lawyer Datuk N. Sivananthan, representing Yew, argued that the incident happened quickly and that his client did not intend to commit the act.
"He was blank (disoriented) at the moment and the act of moving the car was purely in self-defence to avoid being hit by the deceased with a baseball bat," said the lawyer, who also requested the court to impose a seven to eight years prison sentence. – Bernama
Court of Appeal, Prison Sentence, Culpable Homicide, Syed Muhammad Danial, Road Rage
