KUALA LUMPUR: Three security guards were yesterday sentenced to 18 months’ jail each by the Ampang Sessions Court for the death of a youth suspected of stealing from a mosque last year.
Judge Manira Mohd Noor handed down the sentence on Mohd Aswenry Majon, 27, and two Indonesian nationals, Iweldo Putra, 20, and Pondri Neriko, 21, after they pleaded guilty to the charge.
They had pleaded not guilty, but changed their plea to guilty to an amended charge under Section 304(b) of the Penal Code.
They were earlier charged under Section 302 of the Penal Code for murder, which carried the mandatory death sentence upon conviction.
Manira ordered them to serve the jail sentence from the date of their arrest on Dec 3, 2013.
Before handing down the sentence, Manira said she hoped the punishment meted on the accused would be a lesson to them that as security guards, they should not take the law into their own hands.
“Although the victim was suspected of stealing from the mosque donation box, all the accused should have handed him to the police,” she added.
The three security guards were charged with causing the death of Mohamed Shah Reza Fauzi@Mohamed, 20, at the stairs near the gate of the Al-Azim Mosque, Jalan Pandan Indah, Ampang Jaya near here at 5 am on Dec 3 last year.
The prosecution was conducted by deputy public prosecutor Noor Fadzlin Abd Zawawi, while lawyer Jamil Mohamed Shafie represented Mohd Aswenry and Iweldo and Pondri by lawyer S Selvi. — Bernama