The Tawau High Court ruled today that all 13 accused were jointly guilty of the charge under Section 302, read with Section 34, of the Penal Code, Berita Harian reported.

Section 302 provides for the death penalty, or imprisonment of 30 to 40 years, and up to 12 strokes of the cane, upon conviction.

Section 34 addresses joint liability for acts done by several people in furtherance of a common intention.

Justice Duncan Sikodol fixed Aug 28 for sentencing.

The judge said the prosecution had proven beyond reasonable doubt that the 13 cted together with the intention of causing Nazmie’s death.

Sikodol said the defence’s argument that the teens only wanted to “teach the victim a lesson” was baseless as the injuries suffered by Nazmie were severe and capable of causing death.

“The issue is not whether the accused persons intended to murder the victim, but whether the bodily injuries caused, which were likely to cause death, were intentional.

“The medical evidence furnished before the court clearly shows that the injuries did cause death,” he said.

He also said the argument that the teens were provoked by the victim did not hold water as their assault was not a spontaneous reaction but repeated attacks over a prolonged period of time.

In April 2024, the 13 boys were charged with jointly murdering Nazmie in a dormitory room at the college between 9pm on March 21 and 7.35am on March 22.

Eight of the 13 accused were represented by lawyers Ram Singh, Kamarudin Chinki and Chen Wen Jye. The remaining five were represented by Zairi Zainal Abidin, Abdul Ghani Zelika, Vivian Thien, Jhesseny P Kang and Kusni Ambotuwo.