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Kota Kinabalu: A 34-year-old man was charged in the Magistrate’s Court, Friday, with insulting the modesty of an underaged girl by putting his mobile phone under the door of a toilet cubicle in a primary school, last year.

Salesman Vincent Choo Thye Yang pleaded not guilty before Magistrate Marilyn Kelvin to committing the offence against the 13-year-old girl, intruding her privacy in the female toilet, here on Oct 17, 2023, at 3.50pm.

The charge, under Section 509 of the Penal Code, carries a jail term of up to five years or fine, or both, on conviction.

Inspector Suzie SK, in applying for a pre-trial case management (PTCM) date, proposed bail at RM6,000.

Counsel Lim Chun Yan, representing the accused, applied for a lower bail amount.

The court set Oct 1 for PTCM and released Choo on a bail of RM1,000 in one surety.

In another case, a single mother of four was sentenced to 14 days’ jail for shoplifting.

Syakira Abdullah, 35, pleaded guilty to stealing three bottles of deodorant, a packet of biscuits and one packet of chocolate nips worth a total of RM60 from CKS Grocer Inanam Capital, near here, on Aug 3, at 6.36pm.

Syakira, who on Aug 8 claimed trial to the charge, informed the court on Friday that she wished to change her plea to guilty to the charge under Section 380 of the Penal Code, which carries a jail term of up to 10 years and liability of a fine on conviction.

The court heard from the prosecution that a staff confronted Syakira for taking the items without paying.

Duty counsel Jagnesh Jaya, representing Syakira, requested a lenient sentence because she is a single mother with four children and is currently pregnant and works at a massage parlour with no fixed income.

Suzie applied for an appropriate sentence, adding that Syakira has no conviction record.

Marilyn ordered Syakira to serve the sentence from the date of her arrest and ordered the exhibits to be returned to its owner.