Fadley Faisal

A homeless man who holds a criminal record as far back as 1998 was sentenced to a year’s jail by the Magistrate’s Court yesterday, after he pleaded guilty to theft and trespass.

DPP Nur Hidayatul Aeny Alisah binti Haji Zullizam’s facts of the case stated that Mohammad Shahmir bin Bujang, 45, trespassed into the compound of a BSP housing in Seria during the wee hours of December 13, 2019.

The defendant looked around the vicinity, walked to and fro the front and back of the house twice, and looked through a kitchen window. This was caught on CCTV which sent a notification to its owner. The notification was seen at 6am. Fearing for his family’s safety, the owner lodged a police report.

As the case was being investigated, the defendant stole a wheelbarrow from a house on Jalan Raja Puteri in Seria on the morning of January 2, 2020 to carry items he had stolen from another house nearby, carting away a battery charger, a mobile charger, two tape players, a DVD player, a glue gun, an Astro remote controller, a bicycle pump, a remote controlled toy car, telephone wires, a USB wire, a toothbrush, a tube of toothpaste, a camera, a roll of carbon stickers, two gallons of engine oil, a lighter, a shower cap, a wine opener, a cigarette box and a decorative Hong Kong money.

This was uncovered by a pair of Special Duty Police Officers who saw the defendant pushing the wheelbarrow. The police arrested the defendant and investigations revealed the defendant was initially looking for food. He came across the empty house and struck up the idea to steal. Unable to carry the stolen items in a plastic bag, he stole a wheelbarrow from the nearby house.

Magistrate Pengiran Hazirah binti Pengiran Haji Mohd Yusof, on handing down sentence to the defendant, said that the defendant should have not resorted to crime and instead sought help from others for his situation.