KUALA LUMPUR: An unemployed man remains in prison for attacking a former Besut district police chief over an argument about a coconut tree after the Court of Appeal dismissed his appeal.
Mohd Nasli Mohd Nasir, 39, was found guilty and sentenced to seven years in prison by the Besut Sessions Court in 2022 for slashing former Supt Mohd Zamri Mohd Rowi until the victim's right thumb was severed in the incident in 2019.
He appealed the decision at the High Court but the court upheld the conviction and sentence.
In the decision dated Aug 5, Court of Appeal judge Justice Azman Abdullah said the appellant (Mohd Nasli) had failed to satisfy the threshold of Section 84 of the Penal Code during the trial where the crux of his defence was his unsound mental state during the time of offence.
The appellant claimed to suffer from schizophrenia and the seven years imprisonment imposed on him was "manifestly excessive".
"Based on the appeal records, we find that the Sessions Court judge had considered all factors including the appellant's mental state when meting out a just sentence on the appellant.
"From the comprehensive judgment from the Sessions Court judge, the judge had stated her views and solid reasoning on sentencing.
"At the appellate court level, we find there is no error from the trial judge at the Sessions Court, whose decision was affirmed by the High Court. The sentence was just and not manifestly excessive. Therefore, we find no reason to intervene in the findings of the lower court," Justice Azman said in the decision.
The full grounds of judgment was recently released on the judiciary website.
Other judges on the panel were Justice Che Mohd Ruzima Ghazali, who chaired the Bench, and Justice Mohamed Zaini Mazlan.
Based on the facts of the case, Mohd Nasli lived 100 metres away from the victim, who was the Besut top cop at the time.
On Aug 15, 2019, the victim returned to his home and found that a coconut tree that he had planted by the roadside of his house had been uprooted. A moment later, the appellant also arrived home and told the victim that he needed to seek his (the appellant) permission first before planting the tree.
The appellant began berating the victim from inside his vehicle, got out and chased the victim with a machete.
Mohd Nasli slashed the victim's head from behind and the victim's hand as he tried to defend himself. The victim's right thumb was severed in the incident.
Lawyer Datuk Mohd Yazid Mustafa represented the appellant while Deputy Public Prosecutor Zaki Asyraf Zubir appeared for the Attorney General's Chambers.
