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THE Kuala Lumpur High Court today acquitted a male student of murdering his 16-year-old schoolmate after finding that he was legally insane at the time of the incident.
Judge Adlin Abd Majid ordered the student to undergo psychiatric treatment following the court’s decision at the conclusion of the defence case.
The student’s lawyer, Kitson Fong, said the court found his client was not of sound mind under Section 84 of the Penal Code because he was suffering from schizophrenia when the incident occurred.
“The judge, in his grounds of judgment, set out the reasons for each aspect from the prosecution stage through to the point when the defence was called.
“There was medical insanity, and therefore legal insanity was also successfully established,” he told reporters outside the court.
The proceedings were conducted in camera under the Child Act 2001.
Two defence witnesses were called, including forensic consultant psychiatrist Dr Ian Lloyd Anthony.
Fong said the student’s condition had been confirmed by the psychiatrist in a written report and through his testimony and cross-examination in court.
“He was indeed diagnosed with very serious and aggressive schizophrenia at the time, to the extent that the accused believed he was not himself and heard voices telling him to carry out the murder. This was not disputed by the prosecution,” he said.
Fong said the student was expected to undergo treatment at Hospital Bahagia Ulu Kinta before any decision on his release could be made with the consent of the Sultan of Selangor under the Child Act 2001.
“However, the family hopes their child can continue his education or schooling while receiving treatment as the student is expected to sit for the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) examination in two years.
“So, the family hopes to provide books and so on, with the hope that he can continue schooling through ‘homeschooling’ and subsequently be granted a pardon,” he added.
On Aug 13, the court ordered the student to enter his defence after finding that the prosecution had established a prima facie case following testimony from 11 witnesses.
The student had pleaded not guilty in February to murdering his schoolmate at SMK Bandar Utama Damansara 4 in Bandar Utama, Petaling Jaya, between 9.20am and 9.35am on Oct 14 last year.
He was charged under Section 302 of the Penal Code, which provides for the death penalty or imprisonment of between 30 and 40 years, together with at least 12 strokes of whipping, upon conviction.
However, children cannot be sentenced to death under Section 97(1) of the Child Act 2001. Section 97(2) provides that a child convicted of an offence punishable by death is instead detained in prison at the pleasure of the Ruler or Yang di-Pertua Negeri.
The defence team comprised Fong, Chew Jee San, Angel Choo and Yan Zhi Wei, while Deputy Public Prosecutor Raja Zaizul Faridah Raja Zaharudin appeared for the prosecution. - September 14, 2026
