A smoker was jailed for one month today, after failing to settle a court fine for smoking at a supermarket's parking lot two years ago.

Berita Harian reported that Nor Fazeah Hamzah pleaded guilty to the charge at the Kota Bharu Magistrate's Court.

The 34-year-old mother, who was unrepresented, made a plea for a light sentence.

"I have to care for a 16-year-old child, as such I ask for a light sentence," she told the court.

However, Mohd Nor Husin, a prosecutor from the Kelantan Health Department, asked for an appropriate punishment to serve as a lesson to Nor Faezah and others.

Kota Bharu magistrate Izzudin Mohd Shukri sentenced Nor Faezah with an RM1,000 fine, or one month jail in default.

However, she was unable to pay the fine, and thus had to serve out a jail sentence which begins today.

According to the charge, Nor Faezah was caught smoking in a no-smoking zone, that is a supermarket's parking lot on the night of March 17, 2017.

She was charged under Section 11(1)(n) of the Control of Tobacco Product Regulations 2004, and sentenced under Section 11(3) of the same regulation.

Section11(1)(n) prohibits smoking in any shopping mall.

The maximum sentence under Section 11(3) is an RM10,000 fine or two years jail.

The Control of Tobacco Product Regulations 2004 falls under the Food Act 1983.

The sentence against Nor Faezah came amid a push by the federal government to ban smoking at eateries nationwide.