Kota Kinabalu: A 33-year-old man was sentenced to death by the High Court here for murdering his former girlfriend at a shopping centre here three years ago.
Judge Datuk Alexander Siew How Wai meted out the sentence to Chung King Fung @ Haider Daniel Chung Abdullah
(pic) on Friday after delivering his decision.
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On Feb 10, Chung was convicted after pleading guilty to committing the crime against one Nurul Ain Silien, 21, between noon and 12.20pm on May 29, 2023, at an ice cream outlet in a mall, along Jalan Haji Saman, here.
Chung kept his head down as the decision was read out and was immediately whisked away to the holding room after the judge finished delivering his decision.
Members of the victim’s family broke down in tears and embraced one another after the sentence was handed down.
In delivering his grounds of decision, Judge Siew cited decided cases: “In Robin Radjaini Saih v PP [2024] 9 CLJ 224, the Court of Appeal had cited with approval certain principles laid down by the Singapore Court of Appeal in PP v Kho Jabing [2015] 2 SLR 112.
“In that case Singapore case, the court had held that in deciding whether to impose the death penalty, a Court should consider “whether the offender’s acts are so grievous an affront to humanity and so abhorrent that the death penalty is the only adequate sentence” and whether “the offender had acted in a way which exhibits viciousness or a blatant disregard for human life”.
“This Court, after reviewing the facts of the case, the exhibits tendered including the CCTV recordings, the mitigation plea of learned counsel for the accused and the submissions of the learned Deputy Public Prosecutor, would answer both questions in the affirmative.
“This was not a crime of passion, contrary to the submission of learned counsel. This was a premeditated killing, with the accused having bought the knife used to stab the victim, the day before,” he said.
The Judge said the sheer viciousness and brazenness of the killing is laid bare in the CCTV recordings, with the accused not only repeatedly stabbing the victim from the side with the knife but then proceeding to repeatedly stab the victim at the back, with great force no less than eight times.
“Yes, the accused was previously in a relationship with the victim and, according to learned counsel, had seen the victim with another man after the breakup. After the killing, the accused did not try to run away and had called the police himself, and the accused pleaded guilty on the day the trial was scheduled to commence,” he said.
The defence counsel had also submitted that the accused has elderly parents and a child and is remorseful, he said.
“None of these matters submitted in mitigation can in any way lessen the heinousness of the crime. The accused has not only taken the life of the victim in a most cruel manner but has also destroyed any chance of a normal life for the victim’s family.
“On Monday, February 9, 2026, this court convicted the accused of the murder charge upon his guilty plea and today the Court sentences the accused to death and directs that he be hanged by the neck until he is dead,” held Siew.
Earlier, the judge said on the application for compensation, the court was not inclined to make any such order.
“The Court is of the view the matter of compensation can be better dealt with in the civil courts,” he said.
Chung on Jan 15, 2025, claimed trial to the charge under Section 302 of the Penal Code, which carries a sentence of either a death penalty or imprisonment for not less than 30 years but not exceeding 40 years, and if not sentenced to death, shall be punished with whipping of not less than 12 strokes for male convicts below 50 years of age, on conviction.
Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Dacia Jane Romanus prosecuted while counsel Edward Paul representing Chung.
Counsel Jakaria Ab Jalil held a watching brief for the victim’s family.
