Magistrate Khairunnisak Hassni delivered the verdict after Lok Kian Seng, 48, Daniel Ho, 34, Woon Chee Weng, 45, and Lim Chien Voon, 42, pleaded guilty to two alternative charges.

On July 10, 2023, the media reported that the bodies of two tattooed men believed to have been murdered, were found wrapped in canvas and bound with cable ties in a thicket along the roadside in Kampung Ujong Padang, Cheng.

According to the charges, the four defendants, along with another person who is still at large, deliberately and intentionally concealed evidence related to the deaths of Stanley Chew, 23, and Soo Yao Long, 26.

The offences were committed at a residence in Taman Paya Rumput Perdana in the Melaka Tengah district between July 7 and July 10, 2023.

The defendants were found guilty under Section 201 of the Penal Code, read with Section 34 of the same code, which carries a penalty of up to seven years in prison and a fine upon conviction.

Earlier, Ho and Lim’s lawyer Nahdan Rengganathan Abdullah, appealed for a lighter sentence for his clients, arguing that they were merely working as a fruit seller and a food delivery worker respectively.

He noted that they had also been experiencing mental stress after being charged under Section 302 of the Penal Code on Aug 11 last year.

Lok, represented by Asyraaf Abu Bakar Hamzah, and Woon, who was unrepresented, also appealed for reduced sentences, citing their financial responsibilities.

However, deputy public prosecutor Wardah Ishhar requested an appropriate penalty, arguing that the defendants’ disposal of the bodies had obstructed the police investigation into the victims’ cause of death.

The court subsequently sentenced three of the defendants to 20 months in prison, effective from the date of their arrest on July 20, 2023, while Lim’s sentence began on July 23, 2023.