Five sentenced to death for beating alleged robber to death

KUALA LUMPUR: Two army personnel along with three others were sentenced to death after the High Court found them guilty for the murder of an unemployed man at a snooker club last year.
In sentencing, judicial commissioner Datuk Mohamad Shariff Abu Samah said the defence had failed to raise a reasonable doubt and the prosecution had succeeded in proving their case against the five men.
The accused are army personnel Mohamad Hairul Abdullah, 35, and Lawrence Anak Masing, 35, M. Yogesvaran, 24, a security guard, Zaidi Zainal, 32, a self-employed and Chong Kai Weng, 32, a supervisor.
They were charged with murdering Mohd Yusof Abd Khalid, 26, at V-Club Snooker at No.25 and 27, Jalan Intan Baiduri 10D, Taman Intan Baiduri, Sentul, between 8.30pm and 11pm on May 5, 2016.
On the day of the incident, the victim and his wife went to the snooker club where he was fatally beaten by the five men who accused him of robbing a shop belonging to Chong.
The prosecution called 17 witnesses to the stand, while the defence called eight.
In his judgement, Mohamad Shariff said they had beaten the victim by kicking and punching him repeatedly.
Mohamad Shariff said their defence of going to the club on the pretext of catching a robber to be handed over to the police, failed to raise a reasonable doubt.
He said the accused took the law into their own hands, adding that even if the victim was a robber, they should have brought him to face justice, and not resort to violence.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Ahmad Nazneen Zulkifli prosecuted while the five men were represented by defence counsel M.Jagesh.