Alor Setar:The Court of Appeal upheld a 30-year jail term and 12 strokes of the cane for a former trader convicted of murdering his step-brother and hiding the body in a cement-filled drum.

According to BERNAMA News Agency, a three-judge panel, including Justices Datuk Noorin Badaruddin, Datuk Meor Hashimi Abdul Hamid, and Datuk Seri Latifah Mohd Tahar, unanimously dismissed the appeal by Mohamad Zamhuri Azami against his conviction and sentence. The panel also rejected the prosecution's appeal for the death penalty for the 31-year-old.

Justice Noorin conveyed that the High Court's sentence was appropriate and did not require intervention. She stated there were no grounds for replacing the sentence with the death penalty or a 40-year prison term, as requested by the prosecution. The court found no justification for the fatal act under the defence of private defence, and the prosecution had successfully proven the intention behind the crime.

On May 13 last year, the Alor Setar High Court found Mohamad Zamhuri guilty of murdering his step-brother, Mohd Hasnul Nizar Khairul Anuar, 34, sentencing him to 30 years in prison and 12 strokes of the cane. The crime occurred at their home in Kampung Padang Hassan, Bukit Pinang, Alor Setar, Kedah, on March 6, 2020.

The investigation revealed that the appellant led police to the location where the victim's body was hidden in a blue plastic drum filled with cement outside the house. A meat-cleaving knife was also seized by police.

During the proceedings, defence counsel Ai Cha Ran argued that his client acted in self-defence, claiming the deceased had attacked him. He contended that the evidence only supported a charge of culpable homicide not amounting to murder under Section 304(a) of the Penal Code. However, Deputy Public Prosecutor Nur Aqilah Syaza Ariffin countered that the pathologist's testimony demonstrated that the victim's injuries, including a deep neck wound, contradicted the defence's account of a fight.