By Dorcas Ting
KUCHING, May 13: The Federal Court, in a unanimous decision today, commuted Jacob Tiang Lee Yee’s death sentence to 40 years in prison for killing his wife and two children in Sibu on July 5, 2013.
This decision came after Tiang was found guilty of killing his wife and two children at their residence in Pulau Li Hua in Sibu on July 5, 2013.
A panel of three judges, led by Datuk Rhodzariah Bujang, Datuk Nordin Hassan, and Datuk Hanipah Farikullah, set aside Tiang’s previous death sentence following an application made by Tiang through his court-appointed lawyer, Lau Le Bin, under Section 3(1) of the Review of Death Penalty and Mandatory Life Imprisonment (Federal Court Temporary Powers) Act 2023.
The court did not impose any caning on Tiang as he is over 50 years old. The Court also ordered the prison sentence to be effective from the date of his arrest on July 5, 2013.
Tiang was convicted in the Sibu High Court on December 17, 2014, on three charges under Section 302 of the Penal Code, which carries a mandatory death sentence upon conviction.
He was found guilty of killing his wife, Ling Yung Ming, 40, his daughter, Christine Tiang Soon Ai, 14, and his son, Victor Tiang Soon Sheng, 2, between 6.20am and 9.50am on July 5, 2013.
It was revealed that Tiang, who was heavily in debt and threatened by loan sharks, committed the act during a moment of financial distress.
Tiang’s appeal to the Court of Appeal on August 16, 2016, and subsequently to the Federal Court on July 19, 2018, were both unsuccessful, upholding the conviction and sentence imposed by the High Court.
In light of these circumstances, Tiang filed a Notice of Motion dated September 19, 2023, to the Federal Court under Section 3(1) of the Review of Death Penalty and Mandatory Life Imprisonment (Federal Court Temporary Powers) Act 2023, seeking a review of his death sentence to be commuted to a prison term.
The prosecution was led by Deputy Public Prosecutor Datin Asmah Musa. — DayakDaily
