Court of Appeal upholds 30‑year jail term for ex‑lecturer for murder, firing gun during bank robbery in Selangor

PUTRAJAYA, May 18 — The Court of Appeal today upheld the 30-year prison sentence imposed on a former college lecturer for murder and discharging a firearm during a bank robbery four years ago.

A three-member bench led by Justice Datuk Noorin Badaruddin, sitting with Justices Datuk Mohd Radzi Abdul Hamid and Dean Wayne Daly, dismissed the prosecution’s appeal seeking enhanced sentences.

Deputy public prosecutor Mohd Zain Ibrahim had sought either the death penalty or 40 years’ imprisonment for Chai Kong Wee @ Chia Kong Wee on the murder charge.

He also requested that the sentence for discharging a firearm be increased to at least 35 years.

Alternatively, he asked that the 30-year sentences imposed for each charge run consecutively rather than concurrently.

In delivering the unanimous decision, Justice Noorin said the High Court judge had properly exercised his discretion in sentencing to avoid an aggregate sentence that was manifestly excessive.

She added that there was no sufficient basis to interfere with the sentencing order made by the High Court judge.

Chai, 42, pleaded guilty to both charges at the High Court on August 6, 2025, and was sentenced to 30 years’ imprisonment and 12 strokes of the cane for each charge, with the sentences ordered to run concurrently from the date of sentencing.

He was accused of killing Muhammad Aiman Hakim Md Zakri, 21, a security firm personnel, at a bank in Jalan Prima Utama, Taman Puchong Prima, Puchong, Selangor, at 5.50pm on March 11, 2022.

He was also charged with firing shots toward the ceiling during a robbery at a bank in Subang Square Business Centre, Subang Jaya, at 4.30pm on September 3, 2020.

During proceedings, deputy public prosecutor Mohd Zain Ibrahim described the murder as brutal, adding that a deterrent sentence was necessary because the respondent had carefully planned the robbery and shooting before carrying it out.

He also argued that the prison sentences should run consecutively, as the offences were separate transactions committed at different locations.

However, court-appointed counsel Muhammad Rafique Rashid Ali argued that Chai’s lengthy custodial sentences had already kept him behind bars for a considerable period. “He will not see his freedom,” he said.

Counsel also noted that Chai had been sentenced to 30 years’ imprisonment and 12 strokes of the cane in two other similar cases, with those sentences ordered to run consecutively, as well as an additional 13-year sentence for attempted murder. — Bernama