By Mimy
Siti Nurhidayah Kamal
PETALING JAYA: A Malaysian woman who attempted to blackmail the parents of a dying baby in Melbourne for A$1,000 will remain in prison after the Court of Appeal in Victoria denied her appeal for an early release.
Siti Nurhidayah Kamal was jailed three years for blackmail last March for trying to extort money from a couple desperate to retrieve their lost phone containing pictures of their terminally-ill 11-month-old daughter, Amiyah.
Earlier this month, she appealed her sentence, arguing the jail time was excessive and that the original county court judge was wrong to find that her remorse did not detract from the "cruelty" of her actions.
But Australia's ABC network reported that Chief Justice Anne Ferguson and Justice Stephen McLeish disagreed.
"(Siti Nurhidayah) responded to a public plea for help from two especially vulnerable people in a terrible situation by preying upon them for financial gain."
According to ABC, the court's decision was welcomed by Jay who is hoping that it will raise more awareness about his daughter's condition, mitochondrial disease.
He said that the anguish caused by Siti Nurhidayah's crime still persisted.
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