Fadley Faisal

The Magistrate’s Court handed a prison sentence of eight months to a man who pleaded guilty to theft and trespassing yesterday.

Magistrate Dewi Norlelawati binti Haji Abdul Hamid convicted Kamarudin bin Abdul Karim/Abdul Karim, 33, on his own guilty pleas towards the charges of theft and criminal trespass. He however claimed trial to two other theft charges.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Sabrina binti Haji Mahmud’s facts of the case stated that at 9am on September 18, a man and his employees arrived at their workplace at JBR Cool Ever Sdn Bhd in Jalan Bengkurong Masin, using the company car, which they parked by the side of the shop.

At 11.18am, one of the employees went to the company car to get some items and discovered that a drill bit, a drill machine box, a gas metre, an orange toolbox set, a flyding toolbox, and a gas wielding had gone missing.

The man and his employees checked the shop’s CCTV footage, which showed two men opening the boot of the company car, taking out the items and placing them into another car.

One of the men was the defendant, who had set out that morning in his car to pick up a passenger. On the way to a restaurant in Jalan Bengkurong Masin near the shop, they saw the company car.

The passenger got out to take a box containing the items from the boot of the company car, and was assisted by the defendant.

The defendant and his passenger then stowed the items in the latter’s apartment.

The police were alerted, which led to the defendant’s arrest the same day.

None of the items, estimated to be worth BND1,000, was recovered.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Sabrina also informed court that police investigations also found that on the morning of October 7, the defendant had driven from his house in Kampong Mulaut to look for steel items.

At Simpang 15 in Kampong Kiarong at 11.10am, the victim heard her neighbour’s dog barking.

Peering out from a sliding door, the victim saw a car parked inside her house compound.

She then saw a man, whom she later identified as the defendant, opening the boot of a car.

On seeing the defendant approaching the door of her house, the victim knocked on the sliding door, hoping that the defendant would leave the premises.

The defendant went back towards his car and drove away from the area.

The court was also informed that the defendant had been convicted and sentenced for a trespassing offence last month.