Noodle maker's 14-year jail sentence for causing death of man over bad durian upheld

PUTRAJAYA: A 65-year-old noodle maker will continue to serve 14 years in jail for causing the death of a durian seller who refused to replace a bad durian fruit he had bought for RM34.

This follows a decision by the Court of Appeal's three-member bench led by Justice Datuk Lee Swee Seng in dismissing the prosecution's appeal to overturn a High Court's decision that amended the charge against Ooi Chang Ang from murder to culpable homicide not amounting to murder.

Deputy public prosecutor Mohd Fairuz Johari who appeared for the prosecution wanted the court to send the case back to the High Court for Ooi to enter his defence for murder.

Under Section 302 of the Penal Code, a person would be sentenced to death if he found guilty of murder.

Justice Lee said there was no premeditation and that it was a mere sudden fight in which the victim Ong Ting San, 61, was stabbed with a knife after a quarrel arose after he sold a bad durian to the accused and refused to replace it.

He said the victim who refused to replace the fruit when asked to do so by the accused, even threw the durian back to the accused.

"In his (the accused) anger and feeling that he has been cheated, he went home to retrieve a knife and came back and give the victim a chase," said Justice Lee who presided with Justices Datuk Lee Heng Cheong and Datuk Wira Ahmad Nasfy Yasin.

He said both men were armed with a knife and either one could have overpowered the other.

At the end of the prosecution's case, High Court Judicial Commissioner Azmi Abdullah amended the murder charge faced by Ooi to a lesser charge of committing culpable homicide not amounting to murder.

Ooi pleaded guilty to the amended charge of causing Ong's death in a house in Taman Sri Kijang, Bukit Mertajam, in Penang at 4.45 pm and 5.30 pm on Aug 18, 2016.

He was sentenced to 14 years' jail from the date of his arrest on Aug 19, 2016.

According to the facts of the case, Ong sustained 12 stab wounds and slash wounds.

Ooi was represented by court-assigned counsel G.C.Tan.

-- BERNAMA