[2010] 3 MLRA
Balamurali Muthusamy v. PP
683
definitely be engulfed by fire if the lighter is lit. The admission of wanting to kill
himself by using petrol confirms that he knew the combined effect of fire on petrol.
Despite that knowledge, and despite the frantic attempts of SP4 and Komathi
trying to grab the lighter from him, the appellant still lit it. We were therefore
satisfied that the appellant knew that his acts were so imminently dangerous and
that those acts must in all probability cause death to the deceased persons, or such
bodily injury as was likely to cause death, and had committed such acts without
any excuse for incurring the risk of causing death or such injury.
[26] At the end of the defence case we were satisfied that the appellant had failed
to rebut the case of the prosecution on a reasonable doubt. His defence of being
intoxicated was never established as the presence of alcohol in his blood or urine
was never proved. Even had he established his intoxication he would have failed in
convincing the court that he was forced to consume the alcohol. The evidence
clearly showed that he consumed the alcohol without any coercion. At p. 139 of
the appeal records he said:
Sebelum membeli petrol saya telah bertemu dengan seorang perempuan
bernama Susila. Susila ini ada kedai runcit. Saya beritahu Susila saya lapar
dan minta makan. Susila telah menghidang nasi untuk saya. Di situlah saya
telah beli whisky 99. Saya minum arak itu di situ juga .
[27] As the prosecution had established a prima facie case of murder at the end of
the prosecution stage, and at best have it reduced to a charge of culpable homicide
not amounting to murder, it was then up to the appellant to show at the defence
stage that his acts were removed from the category of murder by one of the
exceptions to s. 300 of the Penal Code (Piare [1919] 17 A LJ R 866). Here the
appellant failed to establish that knowledge was wanting under the exception of s.
300(d) of the Penal Code . Lastly there was no excuse for him to act in the way he
did incurring the risk of causing the deaths or bodily injury that led to the deaths.
[28] From the totality of the evidence we were satisfied that the prosecution had
established a beyond reasonable doubt case of murder against the appellant for
both charges. We thereupon dismissed the appeal and affirmed the decision of the
High Court.
Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)
Select target paragraph3
Connect to a paragraph
Connect to an entity
Disable highlights
Add to table of contents