| Fadley Faisal |

THE Intermediate Court yesterday handed jail sentences with whippings to three locals who pleaded guilty to stealing from a mosque, among other offences.

The case also involved a trio of juveniles who also pleaded guilty to the same charges. They are being dealt with accordingly by the authorities.

Mohammad Akmal Arif bin Mohammad Alinor, 23, was handed a 21-month jail sentence with two whippings for stealing from a mosque in Mukim Sengkurong and stealing metal drain covers from an industrial site in Kampong Katimahar.

Mohd Adi Rahmatin Hafiz bin Moryadi, 23, was sentenced to 16 months in prison with whippings for committing theft at the same mosque.

Muhammad Haziq bin Jasni, 20, was handed a two-month jail term for stealing two metal drain covers from an industrial site in Kampong Katimahar.

Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Sabrina binti Haji Mahmud’s facts of the case stated that on the evening of October 14, 2018, Mohammad Akmal Arif was with Mohd Adi Rahmatin Hafiz when ‘A’, 15, contacted Mohd Adi Rahmatin Hafiz to pick him and ‘B’, 16, up in Jerudong as they wanted to go to a mosque in Sengkurong.

Mohammad Akmal Arif and Mohd Adi Rahmatin Hafiz then proceeded to fetch ‘A’ and ‘B’ and drove them to the mosque.

At around 12.33am on October 15, 2018, Mohammad Akmal Arif and Mohd Adi Rahmatin Hafiz dropped ‘A’ and ‘B’ off nearby the mosque.

Mohammad Akmal Arif and Mohd Adi Rahmatin Hafiz then left the area.

‘A’ and ‘B’ then entered the compound of the mosque through the main gate. Both ‘A’ and ‘B’ then went inside the mosque through its sliding door.

Once inside, ‘A’ and ‘B’ attached a double-sided tape to a clothing hanger.

They then slid the clothing hanger into the cash donation safe deposit box inside the mosque’s prayer hall.

After discovering that there was no money inside the donation box, ‘A’ and ‘B’ decided to push open the mosque’s office door. They managed to get into the office and took BND47 out of a donation box there.

‘A’ and ‘B’ then left the mosque and contacted Mohammad Akmal Arif and Mohd Adi Rahmatin Hafiz to pick them up at a supermarket near the mosque.

On the morning of October 15, 2018, the mosque’s Imam was informed by the Bilal that the door to the mosque’s office was slightly damaged and the office looked like it had been ransacked.

The Imam went to examine the office and noticed some minor damages on the mosque’s cash donation box. He then lodged a police report.

Police investigations led to the arrest of the defendants.

In a separate incident on October 20, 2018, ‘A’ and ‘C’, 16, were at the residence of ‘A’ in Kampong Lugu.

‘A’ then called Mohammad Akmal Arif to fetch him and ‘C’ and send them to the same mosque as they wanted to steal from the cash donation safe deposit box.

They arrived at the mosque at around 3am and entered it. Once inside, ‘A’ and ‘C’ attached a double-sided tape to a clothing hanger.

They slid the clothing hanger into the cash donation safe deposit box and took cash amounting to BND8.

‘A’ and ‘C’ then contacted Mohammad Akmal Arif to fetch them from the mosque. Mohammad Akmal Arif received BND4 from the proceeds of the theft.

At around 4.40am when the mosque’s Imam arrived at the mosque for Subuh prayer, he noticed that there had been an attempt to pry open the cash donation safe deposit box.

He proceeded to lodge a police report.

In another incident on April 11, 2018 at around 2pm, an employee at an industrial site in Kampong Katimahar was driving a forklift near the store area of the site.

He then noticed two men in a car, whom he later identified as the defendants Mohammad Akmal Arif and Mohd Haziq, and asked them what they were doing. Mohammad Akmal Arif and Mohd Haziq replied that they wanted to go to the plantation at the rear of the site.

The employee informed his colleague about the incident. The defendants drove off from the area in a hurry upon seeing the colleague approaching their car. The colleague went through CCTV footage at the site and saw Mohd Haziq taking two metal drain covers belonging to the company.

A police report was then lodged. Both defendants were arrested following police investigations.

Intermediate Court Judge Radin Safiee bin Radin Mas Basiuni presided over the case.