A three-member bench chaired by Justice Ahmad Zaidi Ibrahim ordered the sentences of J Jaya Ganesh, 25, A Arjun, 26, V Sivabalan, 24, and brothers C Karthik Krishnan, 23, and Sathis, 29, to begin from May 18, 2018.
The other members of the bench were Justices Azman Abdullah and Azmi Ariffin.
At the outset of today’s proceedings, lawyer Salim Bashir informed the bench that the prosecution had accepted representations seeking the reduction of the charge the five accused were faced with.
Deputy public prosecutor How May Ling confirmed the matter.
However, How said the representations were acceptable on condition that the accused plead guilty and agree to the maximum 10-year jail term prescribed under Section 304(b) of the Penal Code.
All five men pleaded guilty when the amended charge was read to them.
They admitted to jointly committing the offence on Chung Thian Keong, 54, near a river in Kampung Baru Chenderong, Jalan Tanjung Tualang, Batu Gajah, between 7pm on May 17, 2018, and 7am the following day.
They were initially charged with murder which, at the time, carried the mandatory death penalty upon conviction.
However, last year, trial judge Justice Su Tiang Joo reduced the charge to culpable homicide not amounting to murder under Section 304(a) at the close of the defence case.
Su ordered the five men to serve 18 years in jail. The provision carries a maximum 30-year jail term.
They then appealed against conviction and sentence while the prosecution appealed for them to be convicted for murder, which now gives the court the discretion to impose the death penalty or up to 40 years in jail plus a minimum of 12 strokes of the rotan in lieu of capital punishment.
Lawyer Charan Singh, who assisted Salim, later told FMT the representations premised on evidence led in the High Court that no murder weapon had been recovered and the crime was not premeditated.
Salim also said he expects the five men to be freed from prison later this year after taking into account the usual one-third remission given to prisoners for good behaviour.