Man, woman jailed five years each for role in Batu Kawa hotel worker’s death

KUCHING (Nov 16): The Magistrates’ Court here today sentenced a man and a woman to five years’ jail each in connection with the death of a 51-year-old hotel worker, who succumbed to injuries sustained in an assault.

Magistrate Mason Jaro Lenya Barayan convicted Hartley Tuntun Jerah, 33, on his own guilty plea to a charge of culpable homicide not amounting to murder, framed under Section 304(b) of the Penal Code read together with Section 34 of the same Code.

Also pleading guilty was Ayu Abdullah, 25, who was charged under Section 109 of the Penal Code read together with Section 304(b) of the same Code, for conspiring with her recently-convicted husband Ashley Chin, 25, in causing the death of the victim.

Chin and another man had on Nov 10 pleaded guilty to a charge of culpable homicide not amounting to murder, and were sentenced to four years in prison each.

Hartley and Ayu committed the offence at the staircase of a hotel in MJC Batu Kawa, between 12.30am and 1am on Oct 30, 2023.

According to the facts of the case, on the day of the incident, Ayu had falsely accused the victim of sexually assaulting her after Chin had discovered the two of them in a room at the hotel.

This led to her husband summoning his friends, including Hartley, to the hotel where they then assaulted the victim.

Following the attack, the victim was taken to Sarawak General Hospital for treatment where he succumbed to his injuries on Nov 1.

Prosecuting was Deputy Public Prosecutor Muhammad Asymawi Ghazali, while Hartley and Ayu appeared without legal representation.

Earlier, a separate magistrates’ court fined Ayu RM1,500 in default three months in jail for lodging a false police report over the alleged sexual assault by the victim.

Magistrate Zubaidah Sharkawi convicted the accused on her own guilty plea to a charge under Section 182 of the Penal Code.

Ayu had lodged the police report on the day of the incident.

During the investigation, police found that she had not only falsely claimed to have been sexually assaulted by the victim, but was in fact the person who allowed the hotel worker to enter her room.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Nur Shafiqa Nyaie Ilin prosecuted, while Ayu was again unrepresented.

Also in the Magistrates’ Court here yesterday, a 19-year-old involved in the same incident pleaded guilty to a charge under Section 304(b) of the Penal Code.

However, the court scheduled Dec 18 to review the case pending his social report, and allowed him to be released on bail of RM5,000 with one local surety besides requiring him to report to the nearest police station every fortnight.

Representing the accused was lawyer Ralph Lee.

To date, a total of 11 individuals have been charged in court in connection with the case, including four young offenders and two juvenile offenders aged between 15 and 18 who pleaded guilty on Nov 10.

The latter six are scheduled to appear in court again on Dec 7 pending their social reports.