Nine of the 13 accused being taken to court on March 13. – BERNAMApic
TAWAU: The first accused in the murder of Lahad Datu Vocational College student Mohamad Nazmie Aizzat Mohd Narul Azwan told the High Court that he only pushed the victim and swiped him on the shoulder.
Testifying as the sixth defence witness, he said he reacted that way after being informed that Nazmie Aizzat had stolen money belonging to the third and fourth accused.
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"At about 10.30pm, I went to dormitory room Resak 7 with the 10th and the third accused and at the staircase, we ran into the ninth accused who told me that the victim had confessed to stealing the money from the third and fourth accused.
"When I got to Resak 7, I saw the victim taking money out of a book and I ran towards him and pushed him, but the fifth accused stopped me and told me not to push him," he testified before Justice Datuk Duncan Sikodol on Wednesday (March 12).
On Feb 28, Justice Duncan ordered 13 teenagers, aged 16 to 19, to enter their defence on a charge of murdering Nazmie Aizzat at the Lahad Datu Vocational College between 9pm on March 21 last year and 7.38am the following day.
They were charged under Section 302 of the Penal Code, read together with Section 34 of the same law, which provides for the death penalty, or imprisonment of 30 to 40 years and up to 12 strokes of the cane, upon conviction.
ALSO READ: 13 accused of vocational college student's murder ordered to enter defence
Cross-examined by DPP Nur Nisla Abdul Latif, the first accused agreed with the suggestion that he continued to run towards Nazmie Aizzat out of frustration and anger because the victim was his close friend.
The prosecution team also included DPPs Ng Juhn Tao and Batrisyia Mohd Khusri. Eight of the 13 teenagers were represented by lawyers Datuk Ram Singh, Kamarudin Mohmad Chinki and Chen Wen Jye while the other five were represented by lawyers Mohamed Zairi Zainal Abidin, Abdul Ghani Zelika, Vivian Thien, Jhesseny P Kang and Kusni Ambotuwo.
The trial continues in the afternoon. – Bernama
