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©The Malay Mail (Used by permission)
by Haliza Hashim Doyle in London

A JUDGE in a murder case involving a Malaysian call girl at the Old Bailey rejected a defence application to dismiss the case on grounds of insufficient evidence.

Judge Forrester told Jane Humphreys and Peter Carter, defending Noor Azura Mohd Yusoff, 22, and her ethnic Vietnamese boyfriend Lon Gian, 26, charged with murdering student Xie Sing Xing, 23, between April 17, 2007 and April 18, 2007 that there was a case to answer.

Gian also faces another charge of perverting the course of justice by disposing of the body.

Another co-accused, Chanh Ngo, a Vietnamese man had since fled Britain.

Xie’s headless and handless body was found in laundry bag in a south London dock on April 19, 2007 and her head was found several days later.

On hearing the judge’s decision, Azura, who is normally composed broke down and started sobbing.

Prosecutor Brian Altman began his submission during the afternoon session of the proceeding.

Because the two defendants had decided against giving evidence, the jury would have to base their verdict on the evidence heard the past two weeks and the submissions by prosecutor and defence.

Altman directed the jury to several points including the venue of the crime. He asked the jury to determine whether 54 Knoyle Street, New Cross, the home of the two defendants was where the murder took place. And if they took part in the crime.

He also pointed out to the jury that all knives were missing from the house after the murder.

Altman noted that Gian’s mobile phone calls were tracked to the vicinity of the south London dock on the evening of April 17, 2007.

Also, he told the jury that the Nike jacket and the bed sheet found together with Xie’s body in a laundry bag were from Gian and Azura’s home.

“A similar laundry bag was found in their house ... the blood stains found in the bathroom of the house and fibre from the victim’s skirt matched the carpet in the house.

The jury was also reminded about the sexual relationship between Gian and the victim and witness testimony that Azura made threatening phone calls to Xie.

He also refreshed the jury on the exact words Azura uttered to the police after she was arrested — “I slapped and beat her up and by mistake she died.” Altman cited pathologist Dr Peter Jerreat’s account that Xie died of violent stab wounds to the neck rather than cocaine poisoning.

Wrapping up the submission for the day, Altman directed the jury to find the two accused equally guilty of murdering the victim pointing out that she was last seen alive on April 16, 2007 at one of the accused’s house by her friend Rui Li at 6pm.

The submission continues today.

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