PUTRAJAYA, A former burger seller escaped the gallows when the Court of Appeal here today commuted the death penalty to 30 years in prison for the murder of an unlicensed money lender over debt dispute. The three-judge panel led by Justice Datuk Ahmad Zaidi Ibrahim also ordered Kamaruddin Abd Rahim, 48, to be given 12 strokes of the cane and directed Kamaruddin to begin his prison term from Sept 11, 2017, the date of his arrest. Justice Ahmad Zaidi, in delivering the court's decision, said the defence submission regarding the conduct of the High Court judicial commissioner who proposed recalling four prosecution witnesses to give evidence on the day he suppose to deliver his decision at the close of the prosecution case, was without merit. He said the judicial commissioner, who took over the case from another judge, had acted fairly because he later accepted the defence's further argument not to recall the witnesses. Justice Ahmad Zaidi said the prosecution has established Kamaruddin's intent to cause in juries to the deceased, which led to his death, based on the severe head injuries sustained by the deceased. He added that the pathologist also concluded that the injuries were caused by blunt trauma object due to forceful blows. Justice Ahmad Zaidi also said Kamaruddin failed to raise the defence of grave and sudden provocation. He, however, allowed Kamaruddin's appeal to have the death penalty commuted to prison term. The other judges on the panel were Court of Appeal judge Mohamed Zaini Mazlan and High Court judge Datuk Noorin Badaruddin. Lawyer Gurbachan Singh, assisted by Aashwini Rajan, earlier, argued that Kamaruddin did not receive a fair trial because the High Court judicial commissioner acted as a second prosecutor and sought to make 'emergency repairs' after parties had completed their submissions at the close of the prosecution case. He contended that the judicial commissioner should have requested the prosecution to recall the witnesses soon after taking over the case. Deputy public prosecu tor Mohd Fuad Abdul Aziz argued that the appellant's use a piece of wood to strike the deceased on the head showed his intention to commit murder. On December 30, 2022, the High Court sentenced Kamaruddin to death after convicting him for killing Ng Yeong Chian, 29, on the sidewalk next to a stall in Teluk Batik, Lumut, Perak at about 10.40 am, on Sept 11, 2017. In his defence, Kamaruddin said he borrowed RM1,000 from Ng, with RM40 was to be paid daily over 35 days as interest and principal amount. He said he was unable to make the payment because he had closed his stall for three days to visit a sick relative in Melaka. He said that on the day of the incident, Ng, who came to collect the debt at the stall, used obscene language. Source: BERNAMA News Agency