PUTRAJAYA, April 14 — A former restaurant worker today escaped the death sentence after the Court of Appeal substituted his murder conviction with culpable homicide not amounting to murder.
A three-member bench led by Justice Datuk Azman Abdullah commuted the conviction and death sentence imposed on K. Rovin Joty by the High Court, instead convicting him under Section 304(a) of the Penal Code.
The court sentenced him to 15 years' imprisonment, effective from the date of his arrest on February 19, 2018.
The other judges on the panel were Justices Datuk Hayatul Akmal Abdul Aziz and Datuk Meor Hashimi Abdul Hamid.
On September 23, 2022, the High Court found the accused, now 41, guilty of murdering Gurwinder Singh Gill Amar Singh, 27, and sentenced him to death. He subsequently appealed to the Court of Appeal.
The offence was committed at Lorong Limau Manis 1, Bangsar Park, Kuala Lumpur, at 2.30am on May 25, 2008.
According to the facts of the case, the appellant exited his vehicle and allegedly attacked the deceased with a machete. The deceased attempted to fend off the attack but suffered a severed hand.
Gurwinder was rushed to the University Malaya Medical Centre for treatment, where he was later pronounced dead. The cause of death was determined to be multiple slash wounds to the body.
In the Court of Appeal proceedings today, Deputy Public Prosecutor Zaki Asyraf Zubir appeared for the prosecution, while lawyers Datuk Amer Hamzah Arshad, Joshua Tay H'ng Foong and Lee Yee Woei, represented Rovin.
