M Thinagaran’s counsel T Vijayandran said the information had to be revealed today as this was part of mitigating factors.

“I am so sorry to hear this,” said judge Mohd Zawawi Salleh, who led a three-member panel.

Thinagaran was in tears and later questioned his family members why he was not told about the matter.

“The bad news was kept a secret as the accused was very close to his mother,” Vijayandran told reporters.

The mother, who was 54 years old, died four years ago.

Earlier, deputy public prosecutor Hanim Rashid and Vijayandran came to an agreement that Thinagaran, 33, should be charged under Section 304a of the Penal Code for killing without intention.

Zawawi, who sat with Zaleha Yusof and Mary Lim Thiam Suan, sentenced Thinagaran to 15 years’ jail for culpable homicide not amounting to murder of K Mugilan.

He committed the offence in front of a house in Taman Puchong Indah in Puchong about 9.30pm on March 16, 2011.

The facts of the case revealed that a family member, Stellamary Stanley, her six children and Mugilan showed up in front of the house to settle a family dispute on that day.

They belligerently demanded the houseowner, M Indrani, come out with her son, R Thinesh.

The accused, who emerged from the house with Thinesh unarmed, advised those waiting outside to disperse but the call went unheeded.

In the heat of the argument, Thinagaran picked up a stick from the nearby garbage bin and hit the deceased on the head twice after pushing him down on the road.

Vijayandran, who was assisted by Cheng Yee Shen, submitted that his client was not the aggressor.

The High Court convicted him of murder in early 2016 and the Court of Appeal affirmed the finding in 2017.