Photo for illustration purposes only.
KUCHING (March 14): The Magistrates’ Court here today sentenced an Indonesian man to one year in jail for attempting to steal a car belonging to a 34-year-old man last month.
Magistrate Zaiton Anuar convicted Irwanto, 36, on his own guilty plea to a charge framed under Section 379A of the Penal Code, read together with Section 511 of the same Code.
The Section provides for an imprisonment term of between one and seven years or a fine upon conviction.
Irwanto committed the offence at the parking lot of a drive through café at Jalan Samajaya around 11.45pm on Feb 28, 2023.
Based on the facts of the case, the owner of the car saw Irwanto suddenly entering the vehicle and attempting to steal it.
It is understood that the car was unlocked because the owner had rushed to help an accident victim in the area.
The complainant sought help from members of the public, who then detained Irwanto.
A police report was lodged and Irwanto was arrested on March 1 at 12.15am for further investigation.
Further investigation revealed Irwanto had entered the country without any valid travel documents.
For that offence, he was charged in the Sessions Court before Judge Afidah Abdul Rahman, who sentenced him to five months’ jail and two strokes of the rotan after he pleaded guilty.
He was charged under Section 6(1)(c) of the Immigration Act 1959/63, punishable under Section 6(3) of the same Act, which carries a fine of not less than RM10,000, or imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years, or both, upon conviction.
Afidah also ordered him to be referred to the Immigration Department after serving his sentence.
Irwanto committed the offence around 12.15am on March 1, 2023, at the same location.
The cases were prosecuted respectively by Insp Merylene Lindan Andrew Mang and deputy public prosecutor Mohamad Aiman Mutallib Mohamad Shariff.
Irwanto was unrepresented by legal counsel.