Hakim Hayat

A local man who stole a gold necklace off a one-year-old girl was sentenced to four years and eight months imprisonment with 12 whippings by the Intermediate Court yesterday.

The prosecution’s case said that the defendant Norazmi bin Haji Tahir had come across the victim in a convenience store and unhooked the gold necklace off her neck. In his rush to get away, he left a scratch mark on the victim’s left cheek.

The victim cried and fell to the floor while the defendant went on to another side of the shop, tossing the gold necklace back and forth between his hands as he headed towards the cashier.

The child’s parents who were close by immediately tended to the victim’s cries and realised the gold necklace was missing. The parents managed to watch the shop’s CCTV footage and saw the defendant’s act.

The footage aided in police investigations when a report was lodged and led to the defendant’s arrest.

The defendant later admitted that he sold the gold necklace for BND70, which has not been recovered, and used the money to repair his car.

Judge Pengiran Hajah Norismayanti binti Pengiran Haji Ismail based the sentencing on facts of the case as well as its mitigating and aggravating factors.

The court said it took a starting point of seven years, reducing it to four years and eight months of serving time on account of the defendant’s guilty plea and gave the minimum whipping order as prescribed by the penalty.

The Judge also took into consideration the defendant’s criminal past with 13 previous convictions of varying nature from 1986 to December 2017. The court’s judgement stated that, “This is a very opportunistic case involving robbery with a one-year-and-six-month-old female child as the victim.” DPP Hajah Atiyyah Azzahra binti Pehin Dato Haji Abas prosecuted the case.