A murder convict spared the gallows in 2013 but living in suspense while the prosecution pressed for the death penalty, learnt yesterday that he would not be hanged after all, when the prosecution withdrew its appeal.
Chinese national Wang Wenfeng (above), who was convicted of murdering a taxi driver in 2011, fell to his knees, beaming, and pressed his palms together in gratitude to his lawyer.
The prosecution said that it had carefully reviewed Wang's case in the light of a judgment on when the death penalty should be imposed, after the law was changed in 2013 to give judges the discretion to opt for a life sentence in certain cases instead.
In January, a five-judge Court of Appeal made a landmark ruling that the death penalty was warranted in cases where the offender had acted in a way that would "outrage the feelings of the community".
Such a person, who "exhibits viciousness or a blatant disregard for human life", would outrage the feelings of the community, and hence deserves the death penalty, the court ruled, in setting out the test for determining when the death penalty was warranted.
