Court to rule on widow’s death sentence appeal on Friday

Hang Tsyr being escorted by prison officers.

By Dorcas Ting

KUCHING, Aug 26: The Federal Court of Appeal set August 30 to rule on the appeal by the widow of a bank branch manager who was sentenced to death in Sibu High Court on October 27, 2017 after she was found guilty of murdering her husband, Wong Jing Kui.

The three-man bench led by judges Dato’ Zabariah Mohd Yusof, Dato’ Suraya Othman, and Datuk Wira Kamaludin Md Said set August 30 to decide on the appeal by Ling Hang Tsyr after hearing the application by Counsels Lim Hong Choo and Roger Chin who acted for the appellant and DPP Tengku Intan Suraya Tengku Ismail who acted for the respondent.

The judges needed some time to read the submission carefully and they adjourned the decision to August 30.

Ling and Tiong King Guan were charged with abetting Ling Hoe Ing to kill Wong, a bank branch manager at his Jalan Ulu Sungai Merah home at 1.30am on June 14, 2012.

High Court judge Justice Nurchaya Arshad found the appellant guilty as charged and sentenced her to death on October 27, 2017.

Tiong is still at large while Hoe Ing is serving a 16-year-jail sentence after he pleaded guilty on October 1, 2013 to an alternative charge of culpable homicide in Wong’s death.

Counsels Lim and Chin in their submission before the Federal Court of Appeal argued that there is no motive for the appellant to murder the deceased as she was not the beneficiary of the deceased’s insurance policy and the appellant and the deceased were in the process of getting divorced.

The evidence presented by the prosecution, which was 20 SMSes sent from the appellant’s handphone to Tiong was challenged in court today. The appellant’s counsels argued that there is a possibility that the deceased used the appellant’s handphone to send the SMSes to Tiong as the deceased knew Tiong and the deceased had used the appellant’s handphone to send SMSes to Tiong and her colleagues previously.

However, Tengku Intan Suraya argued that from the SMS log, the SMSes were sent between 12.40am and 1.21am, and the deceased had died between 12.05am to 1.05am. She questioned how is it possible for the deceased to send SMSes when he is dead. Counsels Lim and Chin then challenged that according to the charge sheet, the appellant was charged with abetting Hoe Ing to kill Wong at 1.30am. The content of the said SMSes were never produced in court. — DayakDaily