Mohammad Firdaus bin Ismail v Pendakwa Raya

Appellant(s): Mohammad Firdaus Bin Ismail

Respondent(s):

• Pendakwa Raya
• [Pendakwa Raya]

• YA Dato' Ahmad Zaidi Bin Ibrahim
• YA Datuk Mohamed Zaini Bin Mazlan
• YA Datuk Noorin binti Badaruddin

• The appellant was convicted of murder under Section 302 of the Penal Code by the High Court and sentenced to the mandatory death penalty.
• The deceased was the appellant's mother, whose body was found in a septic tank outside their home, having sustained severe injuries including incised and stab wounds.
• The appellant initially appealed against both conviction and sentence but later withdrew the appeal against conviction, proceeding only on the sentence.

• Whether the mandatory death sentence imposed by the High Court should be replaced with a term of imprisonment, considering the recent amendments to the law.
• What would be an appropriate alternative sentence of imprisonment and whipping, if the death penalty is set aside.
• The application of the judicial discretion granted to the Court by the Abolition of Mandatory Death Penalty Act 2022 (Act 846) and the amended Section 302 of the Penal Code.

• The Court allowed the appeal against the sentence, setting aside the death penalty and substituting it with a sentence of forty (40) years imprisonment, effective from the date of arrest, and twelve (12) strokes of whipping.
• The Court exercised its discretion under the newly enacted Act 846, which abolished the mandatory death penalty, noting that the amended Section 302 of the Penal Code now provides for alternative sentences of imprisonment and whipping.
• The Court affirmed that the death penalty should be reserved for the "rarest of the rare" or "most exceptionally serious, foul, shocking murders," and found that the prosecution failed to demonstrate that the appellant's crime warranted the death penalty, especially considering the mitigating factors and the family's forgiveness.