A three-member review panel chaired by Chief Justice Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat said Shawal Senin’s application for a commutation of his sentence to an imprisonment term had no merit.
Also on the panel hearing the matter were Justices Zabariah Yusof and Abu Bakar Jais.
Shawal, 48, now has one last chance to seek clemency from the Johor Pardons Board.
Shawal’s case was brought under the Revision of the Sentence of Death and Imprisonment for Natural Life (Temporary Jurisdiction of the Federal Court) Act 2023, which gives judges the option of imposing a jail term instead of capital punishment in murder cases.
Shawal murdered Siwakorn Sukunthaat at his home at Pulai View Condominium in Taman Kobena, Tampoi, between 9pm on Dec 24 and 1pm on Dec 27, 2008.
His counsel Bustaman Menon Abdul Hamid submitted that his client had only beaten the child with the intention of disciplining him.
“The incident happened when the accused was on drugs,” said Bustaman, when pleading for the bench to give Shawal the opportunity to turn over a new leaf.
Deputy public prosecutor Dhiya Syazwani Izyan Akhir described the case as a heinous crime.
She said it was among the “rarest of rare cases” where the death penalty imposed by the trial court and affirmed by two appellate courts should be left undisturbed.
“There was a blatant disregard for the sanctity of human life. The incident shocked the conscience of society,” she said.
Dhiya Syazwani also said Shawal was supposed to be the guardian of the boy.
The facts of the case revealed that Shawal had married a Thai woman, and had another child with her.
Before the incident, Shawal also assaulted the victim on several occasions, including once with a hammer.
Dhiya Syazwani said the final episode saw the boy lying in bed having suffered a prolonged beating at Shawal’s hands. When the victim’s mother wanted to rush him to hospital, Shawal stopped her.
He also instructed her to keep the hammer in a toolbox and clean the blood stains from the floor of the living room and the wall of the boy’s room.
A forensic pathologist testified during the trial that the cause of death was multiple wounds due to non-accidental injuries.