Four men have been acquitted and discharged by the Magistrate’s Court 3 here after the prosecution failed to establish a prima facie case over an alleged attack on a lawyer two years ago.
Magistrate Nadratun Naim Mohd Saidi ruled that marketing executives Yeoh Ee Seong, 48, Ng Weng Kooi, 43, Koay Beng Ghee, 38, and businessman Teh Eng Tat, 38, did not have to enter their defence after the court examined evidence from nine prosecution witnesses and 42 exhibits.
The court also ordered the bail money paid by all four accused to be returned.
In her judgment, Nadratun said there were contradictions, gaps and inconsistencies in the prosecution’s case, particularly concerning the identification of the alleged attackers.
She noted that the assault lasted less than 10 seconds and that the individuals captured in the CCTV footage were wearing face masks.
The magistrate said features such as prominent “puffy eyes” and “eyebags” were insufficient to conclusively identify one of the accused as being involved in the incident.
There were also significant inconsistencies in the identification of another accused. A key prosecution witness initially claimed the attackers were not wearing masks but later agreed during cross-examination that both men had their faces covered.
The court also rejected the prosecution’s reliance on circumstantial evidence involving a white Toyota Vios allegedly seen at a McDonald’s drive-through about an hour before the assault.
Nadratun said the evidence was insufficient to establish a complete chain linking the accused to the crime. She also questioned how the key witness could have made a detailed identification while under stress during an incident that lasted only seconds.
She added that the CCTV footage did not clearly capture the attackers’ faces, although their clothing could be identified. Clothing seized from the accused was also found to differ from what the suspects were wearing in the footage.
As for Yeoh, the court found that the prosecution had only established a possible motive arising from a dispute with the victim. However, there was no direct or circumstantial evidence showing that he had planned, instructed or conspired in the attack.
According to the charge, Yeoh was accused of conspiring with Beng Ghee, Eng Tat and Weng Kooi to intentionally cause injury to 39-year-old Beh Hong Shien using a metal rod along Jalan Persiaran Karpal Singh at about 9.50am on October 22, 2024.
Beng Ghee, Eng Tat and Weng Kooi were represented by lawyer Muhamad Asri Abdul Hamid, while Yeoh was represented by lawyers Mohd Khairul Fairuz, Datuk Suhaimi Ibrahim and Marcia Geraldine Lopez.
The three men had previously been charged with allegedly conspiring with another man, who remains at large, and had claimed trial.
They were charged under Section 324 of the Penal Code, read together with Section 109, which carries a maximum 10-year jail term, a fine, whipping, or any two of the punishments upon conviction.
The court stressed that motive alone, without strong evidence of abetment, was insufficient to establish an offence under Section 109 of the Penal Code.
