KOTA KINABALU: A 30-year-old man received a total jail term of seven and a half years and fined RM1,500 after pleading guilty to five charges of kidnapping, theft of a four-wheel-drive (4WD) vehicle and disposing of a Isuzu Dmax truck.
Muhamad Harianto was sentenced by magistrate Stephanie Sherron Abbie to two years in jail for each of the counts of kidnapping three children below the age of 14 at the Tamu ground in Menggatal town at around 10.20am on July 25.
The offence falls under Section 363 of the Penal Code which carries a term of imprisonment which may extend to seven years and a fine.
Stephanie allowed Muhamad to serve the jail sentences concurrently.
Prosecuting officer Chief Inspector Lim Swee Beng told the court the accused dropped all the three children at a bus stop near a church in the town area.
Muhamad pleaded for a lenient sentence as he merely stole the 4WD and did not see the children who were seated at the rear seat.
The facts of the case stated that the three children were brought by their mother to the Tamu ground in Menggatal town on that day.
The mother parked the vehicle at the parking lot with its engine still running with her three children inside it for shopping at the Tamu ground.
The accused then came and drove away the vehicle with the three children still inside.
Lim told the court that the three children were found at the bus stop unharmed the same, which led to the accused’s arrest at the bus stop in Bandaran Berjaya here the next day.
Later, in another court, magistrate Cindy Mc Juce Balitus sentenced Muhamad to a year in prison, and a fine of RM1,500 in default four months in prison for stealing the 4WD.
The charge under Section 379A of the Penal Code is punishable with imprisonment for not less than one year and not exceeding seven years as well as a fine.
Cindy imposed a jail term of six months on Muhamad for concealing and disposing of an Isuzu Dmax truck.
He admitted to stealing the vehicle on June 16, around 9am at a Milimewa store in Tuaran town and sold the vehicle to a car dealer in Petagas on August 17 at about 1pm.
The offence falls under Section 414 of the Penal Code and carries a punishment of not less than six months and no longer than seven years as well as a fine.
The magistrate ordered Muhamad to serve the jail sentences consecutively.
Meanwhile, in a separate case, a 20-year-old man was sentenced to three months imprisonment for house tresspass by the Magistrate’s Court here yesterday.
Jimar Imilan pleaded guilty before magistrate Cindy Mc Juce Balitus to the offence which he committed on June 10 at 10:30pm at a sundry shop in Kampung Kabayau.
The offence falls under Section 448 of the Penal Code which may extend to three years, a fine which may extend to RM5,000, or both.
He was also ordered to be referred to the Immigration Department once he had served his sentence.
Prosecuting officer Inspector Azaman Hamat prosecuted the case.