Engineer guilty of killing girlfriend loses appeal
PUTRAJAYA: The Court of Appeal has upheld the death sentence of an engineer who was convicted of murdering his girlfriend on Valentine’s Day in 2013.
The court, comprising Datuk Mohd Zawawi Salleh, Datuk Abdul Karim Jalil and Datuk Rhodzariah Bujang, unanimously dismissed Cheong Teik Keon’s appeal.
“We are of the opinion that there is no reason for us to disturb the findings of the learned judge,” said Mohd Zawawi, who chaired the bench.
He said the court was satisfied with the High Court findings that Cheong had failed to discharge the burden of insanity.
Cheong, 35, was appealing against the George Town High Court’s decision that pronounced him guilty and sentenced him to death for murdering Tan Ching Chin in Seberang Prai, Penang at 8.40am on Feb 14, 2013.
The High Court had previously heard evidence from a psychiatrist who testified that Cheong stabbed his girlfriend three times and then purportedly tried to commit suicide by stabbing himself four times so that he could be reunited with her in heaven.
The psychiatrist had testified that Cheong, who was referred to him for assessment, had a romantic and idealistic notion that he and the deceased would be reborn in heaven as lovers.
During the proceedings, Cheong’s counsel Hisyam Teh Poh Teik argued that judicial commissioner Colin Lawrence Sequerah had misdirected himself in ruling that legal insanity had not been established by the defence on a balance of probabilities.
He said the judicial commission er did not consider the evidence of a consultant forensic therapist who told the court that Cheong was incapable of knowing that his actions were wrong because he was suffering from major depressive disorder and was of unsound mind at the time of the incident.
Deputy public prosecutor Dhiya Syazwani Izyan Mohd Akhir urged the court to dismiss the appeal, saying that Cheong was referred to the psychiatrist to determine whether or not he was fit to stand trial, and not to examine whether or not he was insane. — Bernama