| Fadley Faisal |

AN 18-YEAR-OLD local man was sentenced to two months’ imprisonment by the Magistrate’s Court yesterday for trespassing into a house to commit theft.

Magistrate Pengiran Hazirah binti Pengiran Haji Mohd Yusof, on sentencing Bill Beckam bin Baru, took into account the defendant’s naivety to keep up with the social pressure of having a mobile phone, as he mentioned in mitigations that he wanted to steal a mobile phone because all his friends had one and he couldn’t afford one.

The court arrived to the decision of handing a custodial sentence which is deemed necessary and appropriate to deter the defendant from committing other offences.

The incident happened at 5.30am on February 5 when a 57-year-old woman entered her daughter’s bedroom at their residence in Flat Kawalan Hospital Pengiran Muda Mahkota Pengiran Muda Haji Al-Muhtadee Billah noticed something moving under the bed.

She checked under the bed to find the defendant, whom she immediately identified as her neighbour of 12 years, shirtless and only wearing shorts.

She screamed and it caused the defendant to run out of the flat.

The incident was reported to the police and the defendant admitted to entering the flat by climbing onto the veranda.

He went in the bedroom and saw the victim’s daughter sleeping.

He saw a mobile phone on the floor and decided to take it.

However, an alarm went off from the mobile phone which caused him to panic and hide under the bed.

DPP Nur Eleana binti Dato Paduka Haji Hairol Arni prosecuted the case.