Fadley Faisal

The Magistrate’s Court yesterday handed an 18-month jail sentence to a local man, for theft and trespassing offences.

Magistrate Mohammad Marzuqi bin Sabtu heard from Prosecutor Hajah ‘Adzimah Mukarramah binti Haji Salleh how Amat @ Mohamad bin Haji Jair, 58, had stolen a bag containing BND160 in cash, a passport, a car key and a mobile phone from a stall at Kampong Salambigar at 7am on August 7.

A stall attendant had noticed the defendant lingering around that morning, but he told her that he was only waiting for a friend.

When her attention was diverted elsewhere, he snatched her handbag from a nearby table and surreptitiously checked its contents, before making off with it to a nearby forest. He took the BND160 from the bag for his own use, and sold off the mobile phone.

When the stall attendant realised that her bag was missing, she lodged a police report that led to the defendant’s arrest.

The prosecution also informed the court that the defendant had trespassed into a house at RPN Kampong Lambak Kanan, at 10pm on October 21, to annoy the occupant. The defendant had been walking around the neighbourhood, when it started to rain.

He then sought shelter by trespassing into the house compound. He noticed a window that was slightly open, and climbed through it into a storeroom.

While inside the storeroom, the defendant ransacked the items there, and soon heard a woman’s voice telling him to come out.

Minutes later, he heard more voices telling him to come out, followed by a loud knock.

He looked through the window and saw a crowd waiting outside, including several policemen, but when he tried to open the storeroom door, it was stuck fast.

He tried to escape through the window, but was apprehended by the police.