The seamstress who appeared as a prosecution witness in the trial of deputy public prosecutor Datuk Anthony Kevin Morais’ murder case has been sentenced to four years jail for perjury over her false testimony.
Magistrate Namirah Hanum Mohamed Albaki handed down the sentence on S. Yogeswary, 37, after finding that the defence had failed to raise a reasonable doubt in the case.
The court ordered for the jail sentence to run from today.
Yogeswari was also ordered to pay RM1,500 in cost to the prosecution.
However, the court allowed an application by her lawyer, J. Jayarubbiny, for a stay of execution pending appeal.
The court ordered for the notice of appeal to be filed before Nov 30.
The accused was allowed RM13,000 bail with one surety.
Earlier, Jayarubbiny pleaded for leniency, saying that her client is a first-time offender and a single mother.
Deputy public prosecutor Muhammad Izzat Fauzan submitted for a jail sentence, saying that it was a serious offence.
“She provided false testimony which had burdened the prosecution (in Kevin Morais’ case) to support the evidences for the high-profile case.
“The accused’s action was as if she wanted to protect the accused in the murder case,” he said.
On Sept 30, last year, Yogeswari was charged with giving false evidence in the murder trial.
She was accused of committing the offence while she was testifying as the 37th prosecution witness on day 25 of the trial before High Court judge Datuk Azman Abdullah in the High Court 1 courtroom at Jalan Duta Courts Complex here at 11am on Sept 27.
She gave evidence by saying that a Mitsubishi Triton bearing the registration plate PEP 1135 belonging to her was not with her from Aug 2 to Sept 11, 2015, but with a person named Selvam within the timeline.
The alleged statement was said to be in contradiction with a statement she gave to the police.
Yogeswary appeared as a prosecution witness in the trial of six men who were charged with murdering Kevin Morais.