The Tawau High Court today sentenced a 20-year-old former Lahad Datu vocational college student to life imprisonment and 12 strokes of the cane for the murder of 17-year-old Nazmie Aizzat Narul Azwan.
The former student was found guilty along with 12 others last week of murdering Nazmie at the college in March 2024.
Berita Harian reported that Justice Duncan Sikodol also ordered for the remaining 12, who are still minors, to be detained at the pleasure of the Sabah governor.
The court had ruled that the 13 teenagers were jointly guilty of the murder charge, saying the prosecution had proven its case beyond reasonable doubt.
Sikodol said the defence’s argument that the teens only wanted to “teach the victim a lesson” was baseless as the injuries suffered by Nazmie were severe and capable of causing death.
He also said that the issue was not whether the accused intended to murder the victim, but whether the bodily injuries caused were intentional.
The medical evidence furnished before the court showed that the injuries had caused death, he said.
He also said the argument that the teens were provoked by the victim did not hold water as their assault was not a spontaneous reaction but repeated attacks over a prolonged period of time.
The 13 boys were charged in April 2024 with jointly murdering Nazmie in a dormitory room at the college between 9pm on March 21 and 7.35am on March 22.
