The court handed down the sentence to Nurhan Khalid, 31, after he pleaded guilty to the charges read to him before Justice Duncan Sikodol.

Duncan sentenced Nurhan to 40 years’ jail and 12 strokes of the rotan for each charge.

However, Nurhan was ordered to serve his sentence concurrently from the date of his arrest on June 26, 2022, meaning that he will only serve a 40-year prison sentence.

He was charged with murdering Hipang Iba Bernadus and Tomas Yohanes at a church in Ladang Pinang, Semporna, between 4pm and 5pm on June 26, 2022.

The charges were framed under Section 302 of the Penal Code, which provides for the death penalty on conviction.

Alternatively, judges may impose a jail term of between 30 and 40 years, while male offenders below 50 years of age could be flogged a minimum of 12 times.

Deputy public prosecutor Hurman Hussain prosecuted while lawyers Jhassary P Kang and Jhesseny P Kang appeared for the accused.

In another court, Duncan sentenced another Filipino man to 30 years’ jail and 12 strokes of the rotan after he pleaded guilty to drug trafficking in Lahad Datu last year.

Isnawi Sarawi, 45, was accused of trafficking in 199.71g of syabu at Jalan Kampung Panji, Lahad Datu, at 3.30pm on Feb 1 last year.

He was charged under Section 39B(1)(a) of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952, which provides for the death penalty or life imprisonment and up to 15 strokes of the rotan on conviction.

The court ordered Isnawi to serve his prison sentence from the date of his arrest on Feb 1, 2023.

The case was also prosecuted by Hurman while the accused was represented by lawyer Vivian Thien.