KOTA KINABALU: A local man was jailed for a total of 17 years by the Sessions Court here yesterday and ordered to be given six strokes of the cane for two counts of armed robbery.
Judge Ummu Kalthom Abdul Samad imposed the sentence on George Chong, 29, after he pleaded guilty to both the charges framed under Section 392 of the Penal Code, read together with Section 397 of the same Code.
The indictment provides for a maximum jail term of 20 years and also liable to whipping, upon conviction.
On the first and second counts, the accused, was sentenced to eight and nine years’ jail, respectively, for robbing the workers of 24-hour outlets in Penampang and Ketiau, of several boxes of cigarettes and cash between May 27 and June 10.
The accused was armed with a knife and something that looked like a pistol when committing robbery in Penampang and only used a knife when committing a similar offence in Ketiau.
The accused, who was ordered to serve his jail terms concurrently, was also ordered to be whipped thrice for each of the charges.
Deputy public prosecutor Nartiah F. Mirchelle Sambatan told the court that the accused went to the outlets and pretended to buy cigarettes.
She said that when the workers calculated the price of the cigarettes and told the accused, Chong then opened his sling bag and showed the weapons to the workers.
The accused demanded money and took away the cigarettes, Nartiah added.