TAIPING — An oil palm plantation worker escaped the death penalty after the High Court here today sentenced him to seven years in prison on an amended charge of manslaughter of a detainee at Taiping Prison, six years ago

Judge Noor Ruwena Md. Nurdin sentenced Mohd Nizam Shah Shahruddin, 40, to seven years in prison without a fine after the accused pleaded guilty to the amended charge from Section 302 of the Penal Code to Section 304b of the same code, which is manslaughter.

The prison sentence on the accused was set to start from the date of his arrest, which was on August 29, 2019, after he was suspected of causing the death of Chua Teng Wooi, 41, at the Taiping Prison Remand Cell, here, at 9.30 pm the same day.

Noor Ruwena said the sentence was handed down after examining the facts of the case and the arguments of the prosecution and defence as well as the statements of the accused and witnesses called in relation to the case

He said the court found that Mohd Nizam had succeeded in raising a reasonable doubt that he did not intend to kill the victim but was angry with the victim’s actions and only wanted to teach a lesson.