TEMERLOH, MALAYSIA - A technician who was initially charged with murdering his ex-girlfriend pleaded guilty to culpable homicide not amounting to murder in an amended charge at the High Court here.

Tan Guo Rong, 23, entered the guilty plea after the prosecution asked the court to amend the murder charge to a lesser one under Section 304(a) of the Penal Code.

The amended charge carries a maximum jail term of 30 years and a fine, compared with the death penalty under Section 302.

Tan is said to have killed his ex-girlfriend Chua Li Yian, 17, between 6.30pm on May 1 and 3.05am on May 9 this year along Jalan Industri 2, near the U-One Entertainment centre, Mentakab industrial estate, near here.

Justice Akhtar Tahir fixed Friday for delivering a decision after Deputy Public Prosecutor Muhammad Najmi Daud submitted that he required time to prepare the facts of the case.

Tan was calm throughout the proceedings. After a court interpreter read out the amended charge and did some explaining, Tan pleaded guilty.

Tan, who was represented by Francis Tan, was taken back to Penor Prison.

Earlier, three classmates of the victim - Nancy Soo, Liow Siew Ting and Joey Leong, all 17 - taunted the accused with photographs of the deceased.

The victim's father, Chua Yunn Jiang, 43, and several family members were also present at the courtroom with lawyer K. Munjeet Singh, who held a watching brief for the family.

"I was hoping for the death penalty because he must pay for snuffing out my daughter's life," said Yunn Jiang angrily. "She will never come back to us."