Fadley Faisal
The Intermediate Court yesterday handed a sentence of seven years’ jail with 12 whippings to a local who robbed a convenience store armed with a hammer in Jalan Pasir Berakas on January 9.
Muhammad Zulqarnain bin Ajis, 27, pleaded guilty to the charge earlier and sought for the court’s leniency on sentencing, citing his young family, having not received a bonus promised by his employer and that he was desperate to pay off his mother-in-law’s outstanding car loan which he owed.
Judge Radin Safiee bin Radin Mas Basiuni found the defendant’s actions of an armed robbery which had put the victim in fear, aggravated.
Deputy public prosecutor Nurul Fitri binti Kiprawi showed the judge CCTV footage of the defendant in action and another which caught the defendant banking-in money into a bank cash deposit machine (CDM) to pay the car loan.
The prosecution also revealed that the defendant wore a mask and a cap when he went to the shop at 1.40pm on January 9. He brought a hammer and pointed it towards the 19-year-old shopkeeper while demanding BND100. The victim handed BND100 cash to the defendant from the cash register.
He then forcefully took a bag containing BND240 cash from the victim. The defendant ran out to his car fleeing the scene. The defendant drove to a bank CDM in Muara and banked in the money to pay the car loan at 2pm.
Before the defendant disappeared earlier, the victim managed to chase after and took down the defendant’s car details. This aided the police in investigations leading to the defendant’s arrest the same night.
