Took Leng How's clemency petition rejected by the
President
SINGAPORE: Convicted murderer Took Leng How's clemency petition to
the President has been rejected.
This had been the final chance for the former vegetable packer to
escape the gallows.
The 22-year-old Malaysian had been found guilty of killing
8-year-old Huang Na on 10 October 2004 and was given the death
sentence on 26 August 2005 after a 13-day trial.
His previous appeal to the Court of Appeal had also been turned
down in January.
The President in his decision said it was taken after due
consideration and after seeking the opinion of the cabinet.
MediaCorp News was in contact with Took's family who are upset at
the result of the appeal.
The family, including his wife and child, will be coming down from
Malaysia to visit Took on Wednesday afternoon.
Defence lawyer Subhas Anandan, Took's lawyer, said that he was
initially hopeful of the chance of the appeal and noted that it had
taken 5 months for the appeal to be considered, 2 months longer
than usual.
He was also counting on the fact that one of the Court of Appeal
judges did not think Took was guilty beyond reasonable doubt.
Subhas Anandan said: "We thought he had hope because there was a
dissenting judgement and at least one senior psychiatrist has said
that he was suffering from diminished responsibility." - CNA/so
