Fadley Faisal
A 39-year-old permanent resident was sentenced to two years’ jail after he pleaded guilty to charges for cable theft and causing damage.
Md Heldy bin Othman admitted he knew the plan all along when he hitched for a ride with his friends and committed the offences in concert.
Prosecutor Syazwani binti Jumat further revealed in court that it was sometime between May 10 and 11, 2021 when the defendant and the others went in a car to Jalan Lupak Luas, Lumapas and stopped by the roadside.
As they alighted the car, the defendant acted as a lookout while the others sawed off cables from inside a manhole and pulled it out using their car.
They then drove to a nearby orchard and opened up the cables to remove the copper inside.
The defendant also knew that the others had brought the copper wires and sold it to a scrapyard.
The defendant received BND100 from the sales.
Magistrate Nur Eleana binti Dato Paduka Haji Hairol Arni said that the sentence handed to the defendant reflected the rampancy of the offences of causing distress in the replacement and repairs to damages as well as inconveniences to the community.
The court observed statistics that in 2021 alone, Unified National Networks (UNN) has sustained over half a million dollars in damages caused by such offences.
