Banana planter escapes death penalty

KUALA TERENGGANU: A banana planter today escaped the death penalty after the High Court here amended his murder charge to culpable homicide not amounting to murder.

Judge Datuk Abdul Wahab Mohamed sentenced Ismail Mohd Don, 40, to 14 years in prison from the date of his arrest on Dec 3, 2018, after he was found guilty of causing the death of a man who tried to steal bananas from his orchard.

Abdul Wahab meted out the punishment to Ismail under Section 304 (a) of the Penal Code which provides for a maximum jail term of 30 years and a fine on conviction.

Previously, Ismail was charged with the murder of Salahuddin Ismail, 46, outside a house in Kampung Tebakang Payong, Marang, at 3.15 pm, on Dec 3, 2018. The charge was framed under Section 302 of the Penal Code for murder which carries a mandatory death sentence, if convicted.

During the judgment, Abdul Wahab said that based on the testimony of witnesses and the evidence presented, the victim was found to have provoked Ismail to lose his temper. However, Ismail did not show any intent to kill the victim.

He added that the accused hit the victim only once with an iron rod and a bunch of bananas because he was too angry, that he did not use a sharp weapon despite having one at that time and that the victim was found alive while he was with the accused.

The court also took into account the accused’s defence that he was upset that his source of income, for which he had been waiting almost nine months, had been stolen by the victim.

During the trial, the prosecution called 15 witnesses while the defence presented two witnesses.

Deputy public prosecutors Amer Abu Bakar Abdullah and Ahmad Fadhli Mahmud prosecuted while the accused was represented by lawyers Mohd Hayyatuddin Muhamad and Che Amir Che Musa.

-- BERNAMA