Kota Kinabalu: A 28-year-old driver, who escaped police custody at the Court Complex, told the Magistrates’ Court, Friday, that he committed the offence because he wanted to see his pregnant wife, before being sentenced to 20 months’ jail.
Ahmad Aiddilizan Roslin pleaded guilty before Magistrate Lovely Natasha Charles for intentionally escaping police custody at the Court Lock-up, where he was lawfully detained for an offence under Section 12(3) of the Dangerous Drugs Act, on July 15 this year, at 10.40am, at the Court Police Office, Court Complex here.
Ahmad was sentenced to 20 months’ jail for the offence under Section 224 of the Penal Code which carries a jail term of up to two years or fine, or both, on conviction.
Earlier, Ahmad was handed 14 months’ jail for the first count after he admitted to disposing of one unit of stolen router on May 20, 2022, at 7.30pm at a unit in PPR Gayang Ria, Jalan Sulaman as framed under Section 414 of the Penal Code.
The Magistrate ordered Ahmad to serve the 14 months’ jail from Friday and the 20 months’ jail to run consecutively with the jail sentence of the first count.
When questioned by the court about why he was so bold as to escape without considering the consequences of his actions, Ahmad said he wanted to see his wife, who was due to give birth soon.
Ahmad also admitted to the court that he has previous convictions for theft, cheating and taking drugs.
He apologised to the court and promised not to commit such offence in the future.
Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Muhammad Al-Hakim Abdul Razak informed the court that upon arrival at the courthouse, all accused individuals would be separated according to the court where their case would be heard, and all were handcuffed.
Police investigations revealed that prior to the incident, while queuing with other accused individuals, Ahmad was instructed by a court police escort that while in the courthouse lock-up, to handcuff himself using handcuffs provided by one of the personnel.
The escorting police personnel said he was alone during the incident because his colleague, who was supposed to be on duty with him, was on sick leave.
Further investigations found that Ahmad secured one handcuff loosely and left the other without one.
While the police escort brought eight detainees including Ahmad to the courtroom, Ahmad took the opportunity to escape.
He climbed over the fence and fled, said the prosecution, adding that the police escort was unable to pursue Ahmad because seven other detainees were still with him.
Ahmad at the time was a remand detainee facing a charge under Section 12(3) of the Dangerous Drugs Act.
Ahmad was arrested by the Karamunsing police station’s crime prevention patrol, who heard reports from the Kota Kinabalu district police station that an accused had escaped from the High Court complex at 10.40am the same day.
Ahmad, was found without handcuffs at the hillside of the Alam Damai Luyang condominium.
Duty counsel Carmen Khoo, representing Ahmad, requested for a lenient sentence as Ahmad, who is married with one child and the sole breadwinner of his family, was remorseful of his action.
The prosecution applied for a deterrent sentence.
