Fadley Faisal
Prosecutors yesterday indicted seven men and a woman in the Intermediate Court for stealing cables and causing disruption to key service providers in Kuala Belait.
Six pleaded guilty to the charges, while two have claimed trial.
Mohd Ali Hassan bin Haji Idris, Norfaizah binti Abdul Hamid, Muhammad Haziman Azmi bin Hamzah, Muhammad Haziman Azrul bin Muhd Nurudin, Mohd Faiq bin Haslan and Muhammad Faizul Iskandar bin Muhammad Fadhli pleaded guilty to the crimes that took place from July to September.
They have also pleaded guilty to another series of charges for auto thefts and mischief by causing damages to the stolen vehicles in Kuala Belait.
The six defendants have also agreed for the court to take another series of offences involving thefts into consideration for sentencing.
Meanwhile, Khairul Anuar bin Abdullah @ Yazih bin Dian and Mohammad Eswandy bin Hamir had denied all charges they face concerning the cable thefts.
Judge Pengiran Masni binti Pengiran Haji Bahar deferred handing sentence to the six defendants who had pleaded guilty to the charges to January 11, 2023.
Meanwhile, the duo who denied the charges will have trial dates fixed on December 28.
The defendants are all locals, except for Muhammad Faizul Iskandar who is a permanent resident.
Prosecutors were Ahmad Firdaus Mohammad and Nur Zahidah Farhanah Abdul Aziz.