MALAYSIA: SIBU COURT SPARES FOUR KIDNAPPERS THE NOOSE

In Malaysia, the High Court sentenced a woman and three men to life imprisonment for kidnapping a housewife, two years ago.
Judge Datuk Yew Jen Kie, in sentencing Ting Khai Sin, 20, and the three men — Lu King Wen, 23, Tan Teng Chiew, 28, and Wee Nyet Lung, 26 — said she was not imposing the death sentence on them because of mitigating factors.
She said the reasons were that no violence was used on the victim and the housewife was also released the same day of being kidnapped.
She also spared the three men from whipping.
“As the court has to decide between death and life imprisonment, I thus sentence all four accused to imprisonment for life,” she said.
According to the facts of the case, the four had agreed to abduct the 47-year-old victim identified only as Wong on July 17, 2010 at 9am for a ransom of RM53,400.
They then had purposely rammed their car into the victim’s car in front of a secondary here school to make it look like an accident.
In the ensuing negotiations, they agreed to compensate her for the damage done to her car.
Ting drove the victim’s car to a garage of their choice while the victim followed in another car with the three accused.
But once inside their car, the three blindfolded her, bundled her in a gunny sack and drove her to an undisclosed location before making the ransom demand.
They threatened her with a knife when she said she did not have the money and demanded that she ask her relatives to deposit the amount into a specified account.
Wong was freed the same day after the ransom was paid.
Section 3 of the Kidnapping Act 1961 stipulates that upon conviction of the offence, the offender shall be punished with death or imprisonment for life and shall, if he is not sentenced to death, also be liable to whipping.
Deputy public prosecutor Franklin Ganggan Bennet prosecuted while the four accused were represented by counsel David Kouk and Wee Wui Kiat.