"Even if the victim had committed robbery, you should not take the law into your own hands to an extent of causing his death," said High Court judge Abdul Halim Aman.

He said this when sentencing Mohd Azrin Shah Mohamed Azraai to 17 years' jail for causing the death of M. Joseph, 26, three years ago.

Mohd Azrin Shah, a bouncer at a cyber cafe in Petaling Jaya, was ordered to serve the sentence from the date of his arrest on March 7, 2014.

"It is good that you have carried out the responsibility entrusted upon you by your employer, but it should not be to an extent of endangering your own life.

"True, the victim had robbed, but it is not your power to catch and hit him.

We have the police. Your job is to warn (the victim) and report to the police," he added.

Mohd Azrin Shah, 36, had pleaded guilty to an alternative charge with, together with three others still at large, causing Joseph's death at a cyber cafe at Block D2, Jalan PJS 3/46, Taman Sri Manja, Petaling Jaya near here, between 7.35 am and 9.50 am on Nov 5, 2013.

The offence, made under Section 304 (a) of the Penal Code, carries an imprisonment for up to 30 years and is liable to fine.

He was initially charged under Section 302 of the Penal Code for murder, which carries the mandatory death sentence upon conviction.

The prosecution was conducted by deputy public prosecutor T. Deepa Nair, while lawyer Shah Rizal Abdul Manan represented Mohd Azrin Shah.