A night in Yishun ended in a child's death
The High Court judgment records that Mohamed Aliff was romantically involved with Izz's mother, Nadiah bte Abdul Jalil. On the evening of November 7, 2019, Aliff drove Nadiah and Izz in his van. Later, while the van was parked at a multi-storey car park at Block 840A Yishun Street 81, Izz suffered the injuries that caused his death.
The prosecution's case was that Aliff intentionally pushed or slammed Izz's head against the wooden floorboard in the rear cabin of the van twice, causing fatal blunt-force head trauma. The defence denied an intentional assault and said Izz fell while Aliff was carrying him.
The High Court rejected the accident account
After a seven-day trial, the High Court convicted Aliff of murder under section 300(c) of the Penal Code. The judge concluded that the medical and surrounding evidence did not support the defence version of an accidental fall and accepted that the fatal injuries had been intentionally inflicted.
The court did not impose the death penalty. It sentenced Aliff to life imprisonment and 15 strokes of the cane, backdated to his arrest on November 8, 2019.
The Court of Appeal upheld the conviction
Aliff challenged his conviction. On September 11, 2023, the Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal. Its judgment records that he did not appeal against the sentence. The final appellate result therefore left the murder conviction and the sentence of life imprisonment with 15 strokes intact.
Timeline
January 2019: Izz is born.
November 7–8, 2019: Izz suffers fatal injuries at the Yishun multi-storey car park.
November 8, 2019: Aliff is arrested.
2022: the High Court convicts Aliff of murder and sentences him to life imprisonment and 15 strokes.
September 11, 2023: the Court of Appeal dismisses his conviction appeal.
Current status
The murder of Izz Fayyaz Zayani bin Ahmad is Solved / Adjudicated. Mohamed Aliff bin Mohamed Yusoff's conviction was affirmed by Singapore's highest appellate court for this criminal appeal. The rejected accident theory is not presented as an unresolved alternative finding.