MALACCA: An unemployed man was ordered to enter his defence by the High Court here today on charges of murdering three in a family and attempting to murder two others about three years ago.
Judge Datuk Ahmad Nasfy Yasin made the decision after the court here found the prosecution had succeeded in establishing a prima facie case against the accused, Luqman Hadi Mustapha, 30.
According to the charges, Luqman Hadi was accused of murdering Hassan A. Wahab, 70, Mariah Baharim, 60, and Muhammad Taufeq Hassan, 21, at a house in Jalan Sidang Said, Bertam Malim here.
The accused was charged with committing the offence between 5.50am and 6.15am on Aug 25, 2016 and the prosecution was carried out under Section 302 of the Penal Code which carries the death penalty upon conviction.
Luqman Hadi was also accused of attempting to slash Noor Haslinda Diyana Hassan, 25, and Nur Aqedah Aeina Hassan, 24, with a long machete which can cause death at the same address, time and date.
For both the charges, Luqman Hadi was charged under Section 307 of the Penal Code which provides for life imprisonment or 20 years in jail.
Ahmad Nasfy in his judgement said the defence had submitted a psychiatric report among others which mentioned the accused was not of sound mind during the incident, so the burden of proof is on the accused to prove the ‘balance of probability’ that in the incident the accused was not sane.
The judge also said the court would be hearing the defence for the accused on July 17 and 18 and a pyschiatrist will be called to give his statement.
Prosecution was conducted by deputy public prosecutors Badius Zaman Ahmad, Nabilatif Mohd Rosli and Mazuin Hashim, while the accused was represented by Fahmy Sulaiman. — Bernama
