The three-judge panel, consisting of Court of Appeal judges Ahmad Zaidi Ibrahim and Zaini Mazlan and High Court judge Noorin Badaruddin, also ordered Firdaus Ismail to receive 12 strokes of the cane.

In granting Firdaus’s appeal, Zaidi said the court had taken into account the submission by lawyer Hussaini Abdul Rashid for the prison term, and the fact that deputy public prosecutor Roshan Karthi Kayan did not seek to retain the death sentence.

“After considering the facts of the case, the court finds the appeal has merit. The death sentence is therefore replaced with 40 years in prison, starting from Sept 25, 2018, the date of his arrest, and 12 strokes of the rotan,” Zaidi said.

Hussaini informed the court earlier that Firdaus was withdrawing his appeal against conviction.

He said that when the High Court sentenced Firdaus to death in 2022, the Abolition of Mandatory Death Penalty Act 2023 had not yet been enforced.

Firdaus, 35, the youngest of five siblings, was convicted and sentenced to death by the High Court on April 15, 2022, for the murder of his mother, Faridah Mat Hashim, 63, at their house in Balik Pulau, Penang, on Sept 19, 2018.

It was reported that Faridah’s body was found inside a septic tank behind the house.