A three-member bench chaired by Justice Ahmad Zaidi Ibrahim dismissed Kamaruddin Abd Rahim’s appeal against conviction for the crime committed against Ng Yeong Chian.

However, the bench allowed his appeal to serve time in prison in lieu of the death sentence.

The court also ordered Kamaruddin, 48, to be given 12 strokes of the rotan and for the jail term to begin from Sept 11, 2017.

“The trial judge did not err in law and the conviction is safe,” Zaidi said, adding however that there was merit in substituting the sentence imposed by the High Court.

Also on the panel hearing the appeal were Justices Zaini Mazlan and Noorin Badaruddin.

Zaidi said the trial judge, who took over the case from another judge, did not misdirect himself in proposing to recall four prosecution witnesses to give evidence.

“He was not biased as he finally accepted a further submission by the defence not to recall the witnesses,” he said.

Kamaruddin’s lawyer, Gurbachan Singh, had earlier today submitted that the trial judge had become a second prosecutor and wanted to do an “emergency repair” after parties had submitted at the close of the prosecution’s case.

Lawyer Aashwini Rajan, who assisted Gurbachan, said the court could have asked the prosecution to recall witnesses soon after the High Court judge took over the case.

Zaidi, in his broad grounds, also said the prosecution had proven that a murder had taken place because of injuries on the head of the deceased.

“The evidence of a pathologist concluded that the blunt trauma was a result of a forceful act,” he said.

He said the appellant also failed to raise the defence of grave and sudden provocation.

Deputy public prosecutor Fuad Abdul Aziz told the bench the appellant’s decision to use a piece of wood to hit the deceased on the head and body revealed he had the intention to commit murder.

Kamaruddin committed the offence at a five-foot way near a food stall in Teluk Batik, Lumut, about 10.40pm on Sept 11, 2017.

In his defence, he said he had, some time in August 2017, borrowed RM1,000 from Ng and RM40 was to be paid daily over 35 days as interest and principal amount.

However, the payment could not be honoured as he had to visit a sick relative in Melaka during the period.

He said that on the day of the incident, Ng went to collect the debt at the stall he was operating, used obscene language and asked his (Kamaruddin’s) wife to sleep with him (the deceased).