KUCHING, August 13: Court of Appeal judge Justice Ravinthran N Paramaguru has recused himself from hearing a murder appeal today, citing possible conflict of interest as he was the presiding judge for a separate case that involved the appellant’s son.
Appellant Ling Hang Tsyr, the wife of slain bank manager Wong Jing Kui, was sentenced to death by hanging on Oct 28 last year. She was found guilty of abetting the killing of her husband six years ago by the High Court in Sibu.
She appealed against the conviction.
Justice Ravinthran said, “I want to err on the side of this case. I want to be excused from hearing this appeal, as I am also hearing another case involving custody of the child whom his mother is Ling.
“A lot of circumstances and weight must be given; who should be given the guardianship of the kid, and this may cause conflict,” he said.
Despite Ling’s lawyers Roger Chin, Lim Heng Choo and Steven Sia’s assurance that there were no issues for Justice Ravinthran to hear the appeal, Justice Abang Iskandar Abang Hashim and Justice Harmindar Singh Dhaliwal agreed to Justice Ravinthran’s concern as to future implications and fairness to all parties in the case.
They set Oct 18 as the next hearing for the appeal, with different judges.
Ling was charged together with Andrew Tiong King Guan under Section 302 of the Penal Code, which carries a mandatory death sentence upon conviction. They were accused of committing the offence at a house in Ulu Sungai Merah at about 1.30am on June 14, 2012.
Tiong is still at large.
Another offender, Ling Hoe Ing, 29 was charged and convicted under an alternative charge under Section 304(a) of the Penal Code for culpable homicide not amounting to murder. Hoe Ing pleaded guilty to the alternative charge and was sentenced to 16 years jail on Oct 1, 2013. — DayakDaily
