KOTA KINABALU, Oct. 29 -- A police inspector escaped the gallows after the Federal Court overturned his conviction and death sentence for the murder of a single mother in Keningau 14 years ago.

A three-member bench chaired by Tan Sri Nallini Pathmanathan, alongside Datuk Rhodzariah Bujang and Datuk Nordin Hassan, allowed the appeal of 43-year-old Ahmad Rizal Umar and ordered his acquittal and discharge.

Ahmad Rizal had been found guilty and sentenced to death by the High Court here on June 25, 2020, for the murder of 27-year-old Kartini Borhan between 4am and 5am on September 29, 2011, at a house in Taman Adika, Keningau.

At the time of the incident, Ahmad Rizal was serving as a police inspector stationed at the Keningau Police Station...