KUCHING: A 31-year-old man was sentenced to three years in prison by the Sessions Court here yesterday for attempting to rob a 17-year-old girl three months ago.
Gilbert Watson Pengabang pleaded guilty to committing the offence before judge Dayang Ellyn Narisa Abang Ahmad who ordered the custodial sentence to run from the date of his remand order.
He committed the offence at a public toilet in Semarak here at 1.45pm on July 9.
The girl had gone to the toilet where the accused attempted to snatch her bag containing some personal documents.
However, the attempt failed when members of the public saw the incident when the girl screamed for help.
Gilbert was convicted under Section 393 of the Penal Code.
The court was told by DPP Poh Yih Tinn that the accused had two previous convictions of similar offence.
In mitigation, the accused who appeared calm in court said he had repented and wished to turn over a new leaf.
Separately, a man charged with possessing 22.29grammes of MDMA will know his fate tomorrow after he admitted to committing the offence.
The judge postponed the sentencing of Foo Kok Siong to tomorrow (Thursday) as she needed to study the case law submitted by the defence counsels Roger Chin and Osman Ibrahim.
The 42-year-old accused pleaded guilty to possessing the dangerous drug at a night spot at Jalan Canna in Tabuan Jaya here at 9.15pm on March 17.
He faced a charge under Section 39A(1) of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952 which provides for a jail term not less than two years but not more than five years and also up to nine strokes of whipping upon conviction.