FORMER RELA MEMBER JAILED 30 YEARS FOR DEATH OF FORMER MCA DIVISION LEADER

KUALA TERENGGANU, July 9 (Bernama) -- A former volunteer with the Malaysia Volunteer Corps Department was sentenced to 30 years in prison after pleading guilty to a charge of murdering former MCA Marang Division chief Fong Swee Fuan.

High Court Judge Datuk Hassan Abdul Ghani also sentenced Ong Chow Lee, 59, to 13 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to a charge of attempting to kill Fong's nephew, Teo Hock Beng, who was shot in the left hand. 

Ong was ordered to serve the jail sentences concurrently from the date of arrest, which was July 23, 2021.

He was charged with committing both offences, framed under Section 302 and 307 of the Penal Code, respectively, behind a Chinese temple at Taman Raya Wakaf Tapai, Marang at 1.55 pm on July 23, 2021.

State prosecution director Azizan Abdullah and deputy public prosecutors Amer Abu Bakar Abdullah and Mohd Khairuddin Idris appeared for the prosecution, while the accused was represented by lawyers Mohd Azlan Shah Mohd Allias, Abdul Hayyi Salim and Diyana Ibrahim

Earlier, Mohd Khairuddin, when seeking the accused to be given the death penalty,  said it was because the offences, for causing the death of Fong, 65, who was shot in the chest, and injuring Teo, 45, who was shot in the left hand, were serious.

He also said that the guilty plea by the accused was not an automatic discount for the court to hand down a lighter sentence against him.

Meanwhile, Mohd Azlan Shah, during mitigation, requested that Ong, who had no previous records, be given a lighter sentence because of his age and that his guilty plea had saved the court time and costs. 

-- BERNAMA