Justice Adlin Abdul Majid imposed the sentence on Chai Kong Wee, 41, for the murder of Valentino Mesa, a lance-corporal, at the Pinggiran USJ police station in Subang Jaya at about 3.25am on Aug 31, 2017.

She ordered for Chai’s sentence to be served consecutively with three other prison terms of 30 years and 12 lashes for separate cases, namely the murder of a security guard and the discharge of a firearm in two bank robbery cases, Berita Harian reported.

Based on the facts of the case, Chai went to the police station at about 3am under the pretext of lodging a report on a robbery. He attacked Valentino from behind with a hammer before taking the officer’s pistol and shooting him dead.

Chai was arrested on March 11, 2022, and later led police to a car where a pistol loaded with ammunition registered in Valentino’s name was found.

In mitigation, defence lawyer Jaspal Singh said his client was under emotional stress, facing life difficulties and suffered from antisocial personality disorder. He said Chai had no intention of killing and sought a 30-year jail term starting from the date of the offence.

However, deputy public prosecutor Maizatul Munirah Abdul Rahman argued that Chai was fully aware of the nature and consequences of his actions, describing the killing of an on-duty police officer as a brutal crime.

Adlin said psychological reports showed that Chai was mentally sound at the time of the murder and not under the influence of drugs.

“Although the offence was cruel, his personality disorder does not justify the death penalty,” the judge said, adding that the sentence must reflect the seriousness of murder and serve as a deterrent.