An interpreter who paid $10,000 for a hit on a high-profile timber dealer – which was never carried out – was yesterday sentenced in a Phnom Penh court to 16 years in prison after being convicted of attempted murder, a judge said.

Suos Sam Ath, presiding judge at Phnom Penh Municipal Court, said San Dychham, 42, a holder of both Cambodian and Lao passports, must also pay $5,000 in compensation to Khay Narin, 49, whom the court ruled he tried to have killed in Stung Treng province in 2011.

“The court has found San Dychham guilty.… He has the right to appeal it in accordance with the law if he is not happy with the decision,” he said.

Dychham, an interpreter who can speak Khmer, Lao, Thai and English, was arrested by military police in November 30, 2011, in Stung Treng after Narin lodged a complaint with local police, Sam Ath said.

In a separate case last year, Dychham was convicted of fraud and sentenced to four years in prison, the judge added.

After the hearing yesterday, Dychham denied the attempted murder charge and vowed to appeal the court’s decision.

“I could not accept this court’s decision – it is very unjust,” he told the Post.

Narin and her lawyers could not be reached for comment yesterday.