PP container thieves have case heard at Appeal Court
THE Appea l Court on Tuesday hea rd t he case of t hree people who were sentenced a long wit h t hree ot hers to si x y e a r s’ i mpr i s on ment f or at tempt i ng to force open a conta i ner to stea l goods i n Phnom Penh in 2016.
In the courtroom, one of the conv icted men, Horm Br ya, 25, told t he judge t hat he had been a container truck driver for So Nguon Group for si x years.
Br ya said on November 11, 2016, his company had told him to drive the container to the port in Phnom Penh, but instead, he accidentally headed towards Prea h Sihanouk prov ince.
He said a man who he knew only as Kong – a foreman at So Ng uon Dr y Por t – t hen tried to make him force open t he conta i ner so he cou ld stea l its contents.
He said the foreman told two men – Thy Tith Eng, 38, and a 22-year-old man known as Roeurn – to wait at a location in Kampong Speu province to receive the stolen goods.
Meanwhile, Br ya’s trucking compa ny had a ler ted t he a ut h o r i t i e s a nd he w a s arrested.
He sa id t he Phnom Pen h Municipal Court delivered its verdict on December 7, 2017, handing down a si x-year jail ter m to a l l t he suspects for attempted t hef t wit h aggravated circumstances accordi ng t o A r t ic le 357 of t he Criminal Code.
“I was told by Kong to force open t he conta i ner but on that day I was really confused and had ta ken the container i n t he w rong d i re c t ion. I request t he judge to reduce my sentence,” Br ya said.
Tit h Eng told t he judge t hat he and Roeurn were called by Kong to ca r r y some stolen good s i n K a mpong Speu pr ov i nc e, but when t he y a r r ived, Kong told t hem to leave t he a rea because t he compa ny had been made aware of t he plot.
“We filed a complaint with the Appeal Court as the sentences the lower court gave us were too heav y especia l ly considering we were unsuccessful in our attempt to stea l the goods.
“We have only stolen from containers two or three times. I request t he court to give us a t h ree-yea r sentence,” he said.
Prosecutor Tan Senarong said the appellants had not managed to steal from this container, but their behaviour should not be t ol e ra t e d because it affected the country’s image.
“Stea ling goods from cont a i ner s a f fe c t Ca mbod ia’s image. Sometimes when the cont a i ner s a r r ive i n ot her countries, only t wo or t hree boxes of goods remain. So I request t hat t heir si x-year ja il terms are upheld,” Senarong said.
The lawyer representing the three convicted men, Peung Yok Hieb, summed up by saying her clients had not actually stolen the goods.
She said the lower court had charged them with violently forcing open a container to steal goods under Article 357 of the Criminal Code and requested the court to amend the case and charge them under Article 356, for standard theft, instead.
Judge In Vanvibol said a verdict would be delivered next Monday.