Kuala lumpur: A rubber tapper, Muhammad Huzairi Razali, escaped the gallows today after the Court of Appeal commuted his death sentence to a 30-year prison term for the murder of two elderly men.

According to BERNAMA News Agency, a three-member bench led by Datuk Azman Abdullah, along with Court of Appeal judge Datuk Mohd Radzi Abdul Hamid and High Court judge Datuk Amarjeet Singh, delivered the decision. Muhammad Huzairi, 41, was also ordered to receive 24 strokes of the cane, 12 for each charge.

Justice Azman stated that there was no error by the High Court in rejecting Muhammad Huzairi's defence of unsoundness of mind and affirmed that the conviction was safe. However, the appeal on the sentence was partially allowed, enabling the court to commute the death sentence to imprisonment.

The court handed down the 30-year prison terms for each of the two charges to be served consecutively, reflecting the separate locations and victims involved in the crimes. The first charge involved the murder of Ku Cheng Liong @ Ku Sot, 71, at a coffee shop on Jalan Abdullah, Pekan Buloh Kasap, Segamat, Johor, at 5.50 pm on July 12, 2019. The second charge was for the murder of Ng Wan Hong, 67, at a durian stall on Jalan Ibrahim, Pekan Buloh Kasap, shortly after the first incident.

On January 27, 2024, the High Court had initially convicted Muhammad Huzairi on both charges, sentencing him to death. The facts of the case revealed that Muhammad Huzairi attacked Ku with a parang, causing instant death, and then proceeded to stab Ng in the chest during a subsequent struggle, leading to Ng's demise at the Buloh Kasap Health Clinic.

In his defence, Muhammad Huzairi claimed memory loss of the incidents due to a psychiatric illness. At the Court of Appeal hearing, lawyer Abraham Mathew represented Muhammad Huzairi, while Deputy Public Prosecutor Siti Rafidah Zainuddin represented the prosecution.