KOTA KINABALU: A man, who is liable to a maximum of five years’ jail or a fine, or both, for retaining a stolen laptop, will know his fate at the Sessions Court here today.
Judge Marlina Ibrahim fixed today for the sentencing of Wong Jong Shiun, 34, after he pleaded guilty yesterday to an alternative charge under Section 411 of the Penal Code.
The accused admitted to keeping the stolen item at Terminal Two of the Kota Kinabalu International Airport here on October 4, 2013.
In mitigating for a lenient sentence, Wong told the court that he is suffering from paralysis and requested to serve a prison term in Sungai Buloh to be closer to his mother.
He also said that he has to support a four-year-old child.
Deputy public prosecutor Wan Farrah Fariza Wan Ghazali told the court that the complainant had lodged a police report on October 4, 2013, stating that his house in Taman Bukit Sepanggar had been broken into.
The complainant told the police that he had received a phone call from his 14-year-old daughter, who was in the house and had hidden in a bathroom upstairs during the break-in.
According to the complainant’s daughter, three men had fled the scene together in a silver Avanza.
When the complainant got home, it was found that among the missing items were two laptops, two silver necklaces, two branded watches, two iPhones, a wallet with RM150 cash in it, a travelling bag and a Samsung tablet.
Acting on information, police apprehended the accused and his two accomplices, namely Wan Ghazali Wan Aria, 32 and Lim Yee Xiang, 35, at the airport on the same day at around 8.10pm.
During the arrest, the policemen had also confiscated a few items from them.
In addition, the complainant had also identified the laptop that was confiscated as belonging to him.
Wong was originally charged under Section 395 of the Penal Code, along with Wan Ghazali and Lim.
However, Lim had passed away in December two years ago and the court had released Wong and Wan Ghazali on bail at that time.