Kota Kinabalu: A 37-year-old waiter was fined RM5,500 or nine months’ jail by the Magistrate’s Court here on Thursday for having 48 obscene videos on his mobile phone, five years ago.
Farid Imran pleaded guilty before Magistrate Marilyn Kelvin to having 48 obscene videos stored in his Realme handphone on Feb 25, 2021 at 4pm at the Criminal Investigation Division office of the Penampang police headquarters.
The offence under Section 292(a) of the Penal Code carries a jail term of up to three years, or a fine, or both on conviction.
The prosecution told the court that Farid was arrested during Ops Pintu/Ops Cantas/Ops Kesan at Cyber City Apartment, near here, on Feb 22, 2021.
Three days later, police seized his handphone, which was voluntarily handed over by him.
A forensic examination of the device later recovered 48 obscene videos.
Police investigations also confirmed that the handphone number linked to the device was registered in Farid’s name.
In mitigation, counsel Mohd Luqman Syazwan Zabidi submitted that Farid was a first-time offender, married with two children and the sole breadwinner of the family.
Luqman said the videos were kept for Farid’s personal viewing and were neither distributed nor uploaded to others.
He added that Farid was deeply remorseful, ashamed of his actions and had promised not to repeat the offence.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Akaash Singh applied a custodial sentence, submitting that Farid had used Malaysia’s telecommunications network to obtain and receive the obscene material.
Meanwhile, a 49-year-old man was fined RM1,600 or one month’s jail for gambling in a public place.
Ismail Lamat pleaded guilty to playing online gambling at the side of a staircase beside a Coffee Shop at Kepayan Low Cost Housing, at 6pm on June 5, this year.
The offence under Section 7(2) of the Common Gaming Houses Act 1953 carries a fine of up to RM5,000, or a jail term of up to six months, or both on conviction.
The prosecution said police conducting Ops Dadu arrested Ismail after finding him engaging in online gambling at the location.
A handphone used for the gambling activity was seized, and Ismail later admitted to committing the offence during police investigations.
