EVER since he was a teenager, Low Soo Song has led a life of crime, chalking up eight convictions in Singapore for armed robbery, possession of firearms and gambling, among other offences. But after moving to Malaysia in the 1990s, Low - now 56 - seemed to have put all that behind him.

That was until March 2001, when he shot a woman in the leg during a brutal robbery in Penang. Though the woman survived, Low was sentenced to hang under a Malaysian law that allows an offender to be put to death for shooting a victim during a robbery.

But last week, Malaysia's highest court overturned that ruling, saying there was not enough evidence to prove that Low was robbing the woman at the time of the shooting. Instead, he was sentenced to 18years in jail. Low broke into a wide grin upon hearing the decision, then thanked the judges as he was escorted from the court room.

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