A man’s bid to have his prison sentence reduced for causing the death of his two-month-old daughter backfired after the Court of Appeal today increased his jail term from 16 to 30 years.
Justice Datuk Hayatul Akmal Abdul Aziz, who delivered the unanimous decision of a three-member bench, said the court had the discretion under Section 60 of the Courts of Judicature Act 1964 to enhance the sentence even though the prosecution had not filed a cross-appeal.
Justices Datuk Azman Abdullah and K. Muniandy were also on the bench.
Hayatul said the 16-year sentence imposed by the Shah Alam High Court failed to reflect the seriousness of the offence and the level of violence inflicted on the infant.
The court subsequently set aside the original sentence and substituted it with the maximum 30-year jail term under Section 304(a) of the Penal Code. The sentence will run from the date of Daniel’s arrest on August 1, 2022.
The judge stressed that the victim was a helpless infant who depended entirely on her parents for protection but was instead subjected to repeated abuse.
“Unfortunately, in the present case, the infant was instead subjected to abuse. It was not a one-off incident but rather repeated inhumane acts,” she said.
The court heard that on July 30, 2022, the infant’s mother heard her daughter crying in the living room while Daniel was present.
Hayatul said Daniel then picked up the baby from a cushion on the floor and slammed her down, causing her to cry. The following day, he allegedly yanked her arm, pressed on her stomach and slammed her onto the cushion again, causing her head to hit the corner of a table.
A post-mortem subsequently confirmed that the infant died from blunt-force trauma to the head.
The judge also rejected Daniel’s argument that his young age at the time of the offence should have been given greater consideration, saying it did not outweigh the violent nature of his actions.
She said the 30-year sentence would provide Daniel with time to reflect on his actions, reform himself and serve as a deterrent to others.
Earlier, Daniel, now 25, had appealed through lawyer K.A. Ramu for a shorter sentence, asking the court to consider that he was only 21 when the offence occurred.
He was initially charged with murder, but the prosecution accepted a representation to reduce the charge to one under Section 304(a) of the Penal Code, to which he pleaded guilty.
Deputy Public Prosecutor P. Sarulatha submitted that the Court of Appeal retained the power to increase the sentence under Section 60 despite the absence of a prosecution cross-appeal.
The Shah Alam High Court had sentenced Daniel to 16 years in prison in May after he admitted causing the death of his daughter at his home in Bandar Tasik Puteri, Rawang, between July 30 and 31, 2022.
Daniel still has one final avenue of appeal before the Federal Court.
