Federal Court Rejects Bid To Reduce Indefinite Detention Sentence For Teen Girl’s Killers

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The Federal Court has rejected an application by seven prisoners, convicted of serious offences committed in their youth, who were seeking leave for a full review of their "indefinite detention" at the pleasure of the ruler

Among them were two of the prisoners responsible for the abduction and murder of 16-year-old Lai Ying Xin: Wong Soon Heng and Leong Soon Long.

Wong and Leong were 16 and 17, respectively, when they committed the crime in 2008. As minors, they were spared the gallows and instead sentenced to indefinite detention.

A third convict, Teh Kim Hong, was 22 at the time of the offence.

Touted as the mastermind, he was initially sentenced to death. However, following Malaysia's abolition of the mandatory death penalty, his sentence was reduced to 40 years' imprisonment and 17 strokes of the cane, backdated to the date of his arrest in 2008.

Seeking a reduced sentence similar to Teh's, Wong and Leong filed an application in March last year to review their indefinite detention.

In their applications, filed under Rule 137 of the Federal Court Rules 1995, the prisoners argued that their indefinite detention under Section 97(2) of the Child Act 2001 had become unconstitutional following significant legislative changes in 2023, when the abolition of the mandatory death penalty was passed.

In a ruling delivered yesterday, 20 April, a five-member bench chaired by Chief Justice Datuk Seri Wan Ahmad Farid Wan Salleh held that the applicants did not meet the "special and exceptional" threshold required for leave to review earlier decisions under Rule 137 of the Federal Court Rules 1995, reported FMT.

Justice Datuk Collin Lawrence Sequerah, a member of the bench, said the applicants still have other avenues to seek a sentence reduction, including Section 97(4) of the Child Act 2001, Regulations 54 and 113 of the Prison Regulations 2000, as well as the power of pardon under Article 42 of the Federal Constitution.

The abduction and murder of Lai shocked the nation 18 years ago

Lai was described by her parents as a filial, beautiful, diligent, and intelligent student who was popular among her peers.

She had achieved 7A's in her PMR examinations, reported China Press.

To fufil her dream of studying overseas and becoming a flight attendant, she worked part-time at a shopping mall to save money.

However, on 11 September 2008, while returning home after work, she was abducted. She was later strangled to death, and her body was burned in an attempt to dispose of the evidence.

Her mother had told Guang Ming Daily that Lai's rejection of Teh's romantic advances was believed to be the motive for the murder. Teh was her senior at school, while the other two were also students at the same institution.

Despite her death, the suspects contacted Lai's family and demanded RM60,000 in ransom.

The family managed to raise RM33,000 within a day and, together with the police, handed over the money. This led to the suspects being tracked down and eventually arrested.

When Teh was initially sentenced to death, the family felt a sense of relief that justice had been served

However, when his sentence was later reduced to 40 years' imprisonment, Lai's father broke down in court, expressing disbelief that the man who took his daughter's life might one day walk free, reported Juice Online.

"We are the ones with a life sentence.

"We lost our daughter forever. He still has a life," Lai's father said.