Abdul Malik Ishak JCA:

The Appeal

[1] The appellant (hereinafter referred to as "the accused") was charged with an offence of murdering Ng Weng Beng, NRIC 580307-11-5261, on 16 August 2002 at about 8.30pm at shop No: 334-335, Taman Sri Manir, in the district of Kuala Terengganu, in the State of Terengganu, an offence punishable under s. 302 of the Penal Code.

[2] After a full trial, the accused was found guilty by the High Court of murder, and he was sentenced to death. Aggrieved by the decision of the High Court, the accused filed an appeal to this court against his conviction and sentence.

The Facts

[3] An eye witness by the name of Lee Kim Choo (SP8) gave evidence for the prosecution. SP8 was a canteen operator and she resided at No: 266, Taman Sri Manir, Kuala Terengganu. She did not know the real name of the deceased but she knew him by the name of Ah Meng. She admitted that the deceased was her friend. She also admitted that she knew the accused and called him by the name of Ah Fong. She testified that she knew the accused for approximately four (4) years and that the accused was single.

[4] SP8 identified Ng Ka Chun (SP9) as the son of the deceased. According to SP8, the deceased and SP9 stayed in a house which was located in the same row as SP8's house.

[5] On that fateful day - it was on 16 August 2002 at about 8.30pm, SP8 was in her house when the deceased came and invited her to go to a coffee shop which was about 200 meters from her house. The deceased told her that the accused wanted to meet her. The accused also told the deceased to go to the coffee shop. SP8 drove to the coffee shop while the deceased and his son - SP9, proceeded to the coffee shop on a motorcycle.

[6] According to SP8, on arrival at the coffee shop, there were about two or three persons at the coffee shop having their food and drink. At the coffee shop, on the same table, SP8 sat together with the deceased, SP9 and the accused. The seating arrangements were in this order. The accused sat on her right while the deceased sat on her left. SP9 sat in front of SP8 across the table.

[7] And according to SP8, when she arrived at the coffee shop, the accused was already there. While sitting at the table having her drink, SP8 saw the accused talking to the deceased but she was unsure as to what they were talking about. According to SP8, before she could ask the accused as to why he had invited her to come to the coffee shop, the accused started to slap her hard on her cheek thrice. At that time, she was sitting on a chair and the accused was also seated. SP8 said that the accused slapped her because four (4) months earlier she had ended her relationship with the accused. According to SP8, after she was slapped by the accused she got up. The deceased also stood up and in so doing, he told the accused "jangan begini". The accused who had also stood up by then, advanced to the deceased. At this point of time, SP8 saw the accused punching the deceased twice.

[8] Continuing with her narration of the events that occurred that night, SP8 said that at that point of time, the deceased was about 10 feet away from her while the accused was then standing facing the deceased who was also standing about 2 feet away from him. In short, both the accused and the deceased were facing one another. According to SP8, the accused's back was facing her. SP8 then saw the accused swinging his hand from below. She saw the accused stabbing the deceased twice. She said that when the accused stabbed the deceased for the first time, she did not see what the accused was holding. At that time, the accused was near the deceased. Both of them were standing.

[9] After the first stab, the deceased ran to the rear and the accused gave chase. The accused caught up with the deceased and, at this point of time, SP8 saw the accused stabbing the deceased from the back. The deceased then fell within the shop area and the accused ran away. According to SP8, when the deceased fell the acc