PUTRAJAYA: The Federal Court here has upheld the conviction, 30-year jail sentence and caning of an odd-job worker who killed his friend and lived with the corpse for four days.
A panel of three judges presided by Justice Tan Sri Nallini Pathmanathan, sitting with Justices Datuk Nordin Hassan and Datuk Hanipah Farikullah, dismissed Mohd Azhud Ibrahim’s appeal against his conviction and sentence on Wednesday (April 30).
Justice Nallini said Azhud’s lawyer submitted that the prosecution had not made out a prima facie case against his client, but the court found that there was sufficient circumstantial evidence to do so.
Azhud, 33, was appealing against the Court of Appeal’s decision last year which upheld his murder conviction, but commuted the death sentence to life imprisonment and 12 strokes of the cane.
In February 2023, the Ipoh High Court sentenced him to death for murdering Ahmad Azam Ahmad, 43, at a house in Lorong Mohd Ali Kampung Bahagia, Teluk Intan, Perak at 12.10am on Aug 10, 2018.
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According to the facts of the case, a friend who visited the house noticed a foul odour and confronted him, at which point Azhud admitted there was a dead body inside.
The friend testified in court that Azhud told him: "I’ve been angry with him for a long time. I’m upset."
In his testimony from the dock, Azhud claimed he acted in self-defence during a fight with Ahmad Azam, describing his friend as aggressive.
He said he later consumed cannabis and slept for two days, only to wake up and find Ahmad Azam unresponsive. Unable to bring himself to bury the body, he admitted to living with the corpse in the house.
A post-mortem revealed 23 external injuries and severe trauma to the victim’s head and chest.
During Wednesday's proceedings at the Federal Court, lawyer Gurbachan Singh, representing Azhud, argued that his client should be acquitted of the murder as there was no circumstantial evidence that pointed irresistibly to his guilt.
He also cited the absence of a witness to the incident.
DPP Mohd Fairuz Johari conceded that no eyewitnesses were present but contended that the circumstantial evidence was overwhelming.
He said the appellant was the only person seen inside the house with the deceased's body, and that police recovered several blood-stained items, including weapons, based on information provided by the appellant. – Bernama
