KOTA KINABALU: The Magistrate’s Court here yesterday rejected a company’s guilty plea to a charge of selling tomatoes which contained pesticide to a supermarket last year.
Senior assistant registrar Melissa Chia, who sat as a magistrate, made the decision after the 57-year-old proprietor of the company told the court that the tomatoes did not belong to his company but were sourced from different stores.
Chia told the accused that she could not accept his plea as it was not 100 per cent plea of guilty, but a conditional plea.
She said the accused must understand that when he pleads guilty to the charge, the court would sentence him on the same day, be it a fine or jail sentence.
She said Section 397 of the Food Regulations 1985, under which the accused is charged, provides for a maximum fine of RM5,000 or a jail term of up to two years.
Chia put off the case to July 24 this year to give the accused ample time to think over the matter.
The accused allegedly sold the tomatoes to the supermarket in Putatan at 10.45am on Dec 15, 2011.