Ex-college student gets 30 years’ jail for girlfriend’s murder

 The Court of Appeal restores Ahmad Faisal Omar’s murder charge after overturning the High Court’s finding of grave and sudden provocation.

The Court of Appeal sentenced Ahmad Faisal Omar to 30 years’ imprisonment and 10 strokes of the rotan after ruling that he murdered Nuraliya Damia Hairi eight years ago. (Bernama pic)

PUTRAJAYA:

 A former college student has been sentenced to 30 years in prison and 10 strokes of the rotan after the Court of Appeal convicted him of murdering his girlfriend eight years ago.

Justice Azmi Ariffin, delivering the broad grounds of judgment today, said there was no grave and sudden provocation to justify reducing Ahmad Faisal Omar’s charge from murder to culpable homicide not amounting to murder.

The appellate court, also comprising bench chairman Justice Azman Abdullah and Justice Zaini Mazlan, set aside the 15-year jail term imposed by the High Court and ordered the 30-year sentence to run from May 24, 2018.

Ahmad Faisal, 26, was found guilty of murdering Nuraliya Damia Hairi, 19, at Taman PD Permata Lukut in Port Dickson, Negeri Sembilan, between 8.30pm and 10.30pm on May 24, 2018.

Deputy public prosecutor Aznin Ariff had argued that the strong pressure exerted on the victim’s neck proved Ahmad Faisal had intended to strangle her to death.

The court also noted that 13 days before the incident, Nuraliya had threatened to expose details of their intimate relationship to Ahmad Faisal’s family members after he sought to end their relationship.

Counsel Diar Isda Yazmin Ismail, representing Ahmad Faisal, submitted that the trial judge had not erred in law or fact when holding that there was grave and sudden provocation.

However, Azmi rejected the contention, saying that the defence was not available to Ahmad Faisal since the alleged provocation had occurred much earlier, and not immediately prior to the killing. - FMT