Armed robbery: Less jail term, more lashes for trio
Published on: Tuesday, November 22, 2016
Kota Kinabalu: Three men, two of them Filipinos, who were sentenced to 20 years' jail and whipping of between one and three lashes for armed gang robbery saw their imprisonment sentence reduced to 18 years.High Court Judge Datuk Nurchaya Hj Arshad however, increased the whipping sentence of local Muhd Fazrul Timothy Abdullah, 32, Filipinos Mohd Hisham Albani and Aliasar Mohd Salleh, both 23, to 10 lashes each.The three were on July 20 this year found guilty by the Sessions Court of robbing one Sheila Usop, 31, with a sword, a knife and a crowbar, of various items worth RM80,000 at 4pm on Dec 22, 2014 at a house in Taman Salut Perdana, Sepanggar.
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The lower court had ordered them to serve 20 years' jail from the date of their arrest on Dec 25, 2014 and ordered Fazrul and Hisham caned three times while Aliasar was given one stroke of the cane.Earlier, counsel YS Lo, who represented the three requested for the sentence to be reduced on the grounds that they were first offenders, the offence was not that serious as the victim only suffered bruises and that the 20 years' jail was too excessive.However, Deputy Public Prosecutor Aida Fatimah Datuk Abdul Jabar urged the court to maintain the sentence on the grounds that the woman and four other children in the house were traumatised by the incident as they were also threatened to be killed.The imprisonment sentence was adequate taking into consideration that the case went to full trial and that the incident was committed in day time, said Aida.
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When asked by the court why they committed the offence, the trio admitted that they were high on syabu at that time.Meanwhile the court reduced the jail term of a 32-year-old local man, who was jailed 20 years and ordered given three lashes of the cane for assaulting a septuagenarian while robbing her, to 14 years.
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Nurchaya in allowing Friendly Ostal's appeal against his sentence, however, maintained the whipping sentence given to him by the lower court.Friendly had on Aug 5 this year pleaded guilty at the Sessions Court to choking one Mary Delos Santos @ Mary Wong, 76, and pointing a pair of scissors at her while robbing her at 5.30pm on July 24 this year in a house at Taman Green View, Jalan Lintas, Luyang.Friendly in his appeal said he was a first offender and that his three children were being cared for at a welfare house as his 79-year-old mother could not take care of them due to her age.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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