PUTRAJAYA: A guilty plea does not guarantee an accused person a reduced sentence, the Court of Appeal ruled recently.
In a unanimous decision, a three-member bench led by Datuk Vazeer Alam Mydin Meera said that granting a discount or credit to an accused who pleaded guilty would depend on the specific facts and circumstances of each case.
Other members of the bench included Datuk Ahmad Zaidi Ibrahim and Datuk S.M. Komathy Suppiah.
The appellate court made this ruling in the case of Bangladeshi Md Shahzada Saju, who was appealing his sentence after pleading guilty to culpable homicide not amounting to murder, involving his wife, whose body was dismembered and stuffed into two pieces of luggage six years ago.
The 43-year-old accused was sentenced to a maximum 20 years in jail after the High Court in May 2022, reduced Shahzada's murder charge at the end of the prosecution's case.
In a written judgment prepared by Ahmad Zaidi, the court said the severity of the offence committed may outweigh the mitigating effect of a guilty plea.
"Whether to grant or not a discount or credit to an accused person who had pleaded guilty would depend on the facts and circumstances of each case.
"In our present case, we do not find any strong mitigating circumstances to warrant a punishment lesser than the severest allowed under the law.
"In our view, this is not an appropriate situation to 'temper justice with mercy' by imposing lesser sentences. Imposing a lesser sentence would be against public interest," the court said.
The court said the lower court did not err in imposing the maximum sentence on the accused, as it was clear that the appellant's attack was vicious, brutal, and cruel.
The court said the viciousness of the appellant's (Shahzada) attack on the deceased is clearly reflected in the findings outlined in the post-mortem report.
"It goes without saying that the offence committed by the appellant herein is most gruesome, vicious and cruel.
"After being told by the deceased of her wish to leave him, the appellant killed her and then proceeded to decapitate the deceased's head.
"There were numerous stabs and incised wounds on the deceased.
"The deceased's decapitated body was then cut and stuffed into the two suitcases before the appellant attempted to conceal his crime by trying to dispose of the body," the court said.
The court said the appellant was not entitled to any credit or reduction in the sentence imposed due to the gruesome nature of the crime.
"The sentence imposed by the lower court is appropriate to serve as a deterrent to other potential offenders, thus serving the public interest," the court added.
Shahzada, a former waiter, was initially charged on Aug 7, 2018, with murdering Sajeda-E Bulbul, 29, also a Bangladeshi, in an unnumbered room, in Jalan Sultan Azlan Shah in Dang Wangi, Kuala Lumpur between 4.15am on July 3 and 3.16am on July 5, 2018.
Acting on information, police inspected the scene and found two pieces of luggage containing dismembered body parts of the woman by the riverbank of Sungai Gombak near Jalan Ipoh, Kuala Lumpur.
A post-mortem examination was conducted and confirmed that the woman's death was caused by an incised wound to the neck with decapitation.
Police arrested Shahzada in Pengerang, Johor, on July 25, 2018.