Kota Kinabalu: Two men were on Monday jailed 15 months each for stealing a roll of cables belonging to a telecommunication company worth RM4,480.
Part time contractor Jamrey Jamil, 30, and part time waiter Jaidi Jaya, 30, pleaded guilty before Magistrate Jessica Ombou Kakayun to stealing 40 metres of Peut Dilled 100 pr/0.5mm cable belonging to Telekom Malaysia at 4am on April 12 at the roadside near the Istiadat roundabout, facing the Bay 21 in Likas.
The charge under Section 379 of the Penal Code carries a jail term of up to seven years or fine or both, on conviction.
In tendering the facts of the case, the prosecution informed the magistrate that the complainant received a call from his staff that they caught two men red-handed for stealing cable.
A check by the complainant on the scene found about 40 metres of cable cut from the area.
Also found were hacksaw, key set, screwdriver, plastic bag and motorcycle.
The two men were subsequently handed over to the police.
Duty counsel Lim Ming Zoong @ Lawrence representing Jamrey requested for a lenient sentence on the grounds, among others, that his client did not financially benefited from the case.
Duty counsel Carmen Khoo, representing Jaidi, also applied for leniency as he is married with four children and was the sole breadwinner.
Jessica ordered the duo to serve the jail sentence from the date of their arrest.
In another case, a 24-year-old man pleaded guilty to keeping a stolen motorcycle.
Mohd Halwie Baharuddin admitted to having the Honda motorcycle belonging to one Villi Suimin at 12.15pm on April 12 in front of the 7-11 store, Taman Ketiau in Penampang.
The court ordered Halwie to be referred to the Hospital Mesra here for one month mental observation and set May 5 for review of the case.
Jessica made the decision after being informed by Halwie that he has mental illness and claimed that sometimes he could not control his body movements, as if something was controlling him and that he does not know what he had done.
Halwie’s relative also showed the court of his Hospital Mesra card.
Earlier, the prosecution told the court that the machine owner realised it’s missing after withdrawing money from the ATM machine in the convenience store.
Halwie was arrested by the police later the same day at Lok Kawi together with the motorcycle which was reported stolen.
He was charged under Section 411 of the Penal Code which carries a jail term of up to five years or fine or both, on conviction.
Inspector Albert Basiri prosecuted.
