Fadley Faisal
A permanent resident was sentenced to 16 months’ jail by the Magistrate’s Court last Wednesday after he pleaded guilty to theft-related charges.
Adin anak Merichi, 42, trespassed into three residential compounds, pried open a window to one of the houses causing damage, and stole belongings from another house compound.
Prosecutor Nurul Husna binti Haji Abidin revealed that the defendant had just finished work at a workshop in Kampong Bunut on April 2 and requested from a person to hitch a ride to his home in Lumut.
The person was only willing to send him somewhere nearby and the defendant opted for Kampong Lubok Sigurun to stay the night at his last known address of an ex-employer.
The defendant was left in the area only to find out that his ex-employer no longer lived there. He then went to rest in the nearby bushes.
After sometime, he became hungry and went to the nearest house to look for food. At a house compound, he found a gardening fork and used it to pry open a window.
Before he succeeded in opening it, the houseowner saw his act from inside and knocked on the window, prompting the defendant to flee.
He then escaped to a house in the next junction where he found and took stationery from the garage.
Not long after this, a car passed by and honked at the defendant, causing him to escape to the next house.
At the third house, the defendant approached a van in the garage and reached in after opening a window which was left ajar.
He took a carpet out, but abandoned his intentions as soon as a car approached the compound.
The defendant ran away and hid in the bushes. He was found by villagers not long after his escape and was handed over to the police.
Senior Magistrate Hajah Ervy Sufitriana binti Haji Abdul Rahman presided over the case.
