Man to still hang for 2005 murder

A 39-year-old man, who has been on death row for five years for slashing and stabbing an elderly housewife more than 110 times in 2005, yesterday failed in his bid to escape the gallows.

Muhammad Kadar is the first convicted murderer to have his bid for re-sentencing rejected by the Court of Appeal since laws were changed last year giving judges the discretion to impose a life sentence instead of the death penalty for certain categories of murder.

Muhammad and his older brother Ismil were found guilty of murdering their neighbour, Madam Tham Weng Kuen, 69, at her Boon Lay flat while robbing her. But Mr Ismil was freed after the Court of Appeal cleared him.

Earlier this month, Muhammad applied for his case to be sent back to the High Court for re-sentencing. But the Court of Appeal dismissed Muhammad's bid, ruling that his crime amounted to murder with the intention to cause death, which still carries the mandatory death penalty.

This article was first published on September 30, 2014.
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