Kota Kinabalu: A Filipino labourer was jailed 30 months Tuesday for stealing 12 rolls of cables belonging to a telecommunication company worth RM7,500.
Mustakil Amil pleaded guilty before Magistrate Lovely Natasha Charles to stealing the cables belonging to Telekom Malaysia at noon on April 14, this year in the bush near the Maternal and Child Health Clinic, Jalan Kebajikan.
The charge under Section 379 of the Penal Code carries a jail term of up to seven years or a fine or both on conviction.
The prosecution in tendering the facts of the case, informed the magistrate that a police team acted on information of cable theft at the said area, went to the scene and saw two suspicious men, who ran away when the police approached them.
One of the men, later identified as Mustakil Amil, was arrested while his accomplice known as Albasir, escaped.
Mustakil, who has no identification document, confessed that they were in the bushes to steal the cable and led the police to the spot where they stole the cables and the equipment used.
Among the tools seized from Mustakil were a crowbar, a screwdriver, a wire cutter, an adjustable spanner wrench, a hammer and two bags.
Further investigations revealed that according to Mustakil, he was invited by Albasir to the said area to take the cables and that he agreed to join because he wanted to earn more money.
The complainant, an assistant manager of Telekom Malaysia Kota Kinabalu Branch had identified the cables belonging to the company as Telekom Malaysia Berhad and Ownership of STM (Telekom Malaysia company) was written on them.
The loss was estimated to be approximately RM7,500, the court heard.
Unrepresented, Mustakil requested a lenient sentence.
The prosecution applied for a deterrent sentence due to the rampancy of the offence.
The Magistrate ordered Mustakil to serve the sentence from the date of his arrest and ordered him to be referred to the Immigration Department after that.
Inspector Albert Basiri prosecuted.
