Judge Nooriah Osman said defence lawyers for Zamil Ahmad Murad raised reasonable doubt over the prosecution case.

Zamil, 62, a former Terengganu sports council (MSN) shooting coach, was charged with intentionally causing the death of Syed Haikar Iskandar Syed Mahdzar, 34, in a bush behind a house in Gong Badak, Kuala Nerus, between 4.15pm and 4.30pm on Feb 1, 2010.

In the incident, Syed Haikar was shot dead after trying to break into Zamil’s house through the back door.

Zamil, who was at a shooting training centre at the time, returned home after being contacted by his wife who said she saw a man trying to break into their house.

He was charged under Section 304 (a) of the Penal Code with culpable homicide not amounting to murder.

He was initially charged with murder but the prosecution reduced the charge to culpable homicide following an inquest in which the coroner concluded Zamil was criminally involved in Syed Haikar’s death.

On Feb 13, 2023, Zamil was ordered to enter his defence as the prosecution had established a prima facie case.

A total of 21 prosecution witnesses gave evidence for the prosecution, while three testified for the defence during the trial.

The prosecution alleged Zamil exceeded the boundaries of self-defence and argued that he fired a second shot when Syed Haikar was not facing him squarely.

However, the defence argued that Zamil had acted out of necessity and had been confronted with an imminent threat to his life when Syed Haikar, unprovoked, had menacingly attacked him with a Rambo-style survival knife.

Zamil was represented by Shafee Abdullah, Rahmat Hazlan and Wan Arfan Wan Othman, while the prosecution was led by deputy public prosecutors Engku Ahmad Rashdi Engku Abdillah, Intan Nor Hilwani Mat Rifin and Hanis Nabihah Hizamul-Din.