Vernon Ong FCJ:

Introduction

[1] The appellant was charged with murder under s 302 of the Penal Code . After a full trial at the High Court and hearing of 24 prosecution witnesses and 3 defence witnesses, the appellant was convicted on that charge and sentenced to death. The appellant's appeal to the Court of Appeal against the conviction and sentence was dismissed. This is the unanimous judgment of this Court and it deals with the appeal against conviction and sentence. It does not deal with the question of the unconstitutionality of the mandatory death sentence prescribed under s 302 of the . The constitutional point will be taken up in the separate written judgments of my learned brother Azahar Mohamed CJM and of my learned sister Nallini Pathmanathan FCJ.