Former construction firm manager escapes the gallows, sentenced to 30 years in jail

PUTRAJAYA: A former construction company manager who murdered his Indonesian girlfriend by stabbing her 28 times, six years ago, escaped the gallows after the Appeals Court on Tuesday (April 30) commuted the death sentence to 30 years in jail and 12 strokes of the rotan.

A three-member panel of judges chaired by Justice Datuk Hadhariah Syed Ismail, Datuk Ahmad Zaidi Ibrahim and Datuk Azmi Ariffin in a unanimous decision replaced the death sentence by the Shah Alam High Court on Sobri Abdul Wahab with the jail term.

Hadhariah added that the Shah Alam High Court did not err in its decision to convict the 46-year-old Sobri and that there was no merit in Sobri’s appeal and plea of insanity at the time of the incident.

“Such a claim could not be proven. Therefore, the conviction is upheld but the death sentence is replaced with a jail term,” she said.

Hadhariah ordered Sobri to serve the jail sentence from the date of his arrest on March 10, 2018.

The Shah Alam High Court had on Dec 31, 2021 sentenced Sobri to death after finding him guilty of murder after he was charged with murdering school canteen helper Gusnima, 38, at her rented apartment in Section U8, Bukit Jelutong, Shah Alam, between 6pm and 8pm on March 10, 2018.

The victim from Medan, Indonesia was found dead with 14 stabs to her neck, five to the body, four in the stomach, three in the chest and two to the skull.

Earlier, lawyer K.A Ramu who represented Sobri pleaded that his client was insane and was not under medication at the time of the incident but Deputy Public Prosecutor Ng Siew Wee objected to the plea, claiming the accused was not medically insane because he behaved normally.

During the proceeding, Sobri was also represented by Khairul Naim Rafidi and Farida Mohammad.

Following the amendment to Section 302 of the Penal Code, the court can sentence an accused to not less than 30 years and not more than 40 years, if the death penalty is not imposed and a male convict shall also be punished with whipping of not less 12 strokes of the rotan.- BK