12 years’ jail, cane for snatch theft

KOTA KINABALU: A man was jailed for 12 years and ordered to be given one stroke of the cane by the Sessions Court here for snatching a man’s bag containing documents, cash and a cellphone.

Judge Noor Hafizah Mohd Salim imposed the sentence on Mohd Amar Amat, 31, after he pleaded guilty to the charge under Section 392 of the Penal Code.

The indictment carries a maximum jail term of 14 years or with a fine and whipping, upon conviction.

The accused admitted to committing the offence at a hospital car park here on October 14.

The prosecution told the court that before the robbery occurred, the victim had opened his car’s driver door and put his bag next to the driver’s seat and opened the car’s windows at both the front seats.

Seconds after that, the accused came and took away his bag and fled in a car driven by the accused’s friend.

The victim then tried to stop the car but they hit the victim’s car.

The victim then tried to catch them and at that time, the victim was holding onto their car bonnet and both the accused and his friend had brought the victim about 20 meters away from the said area when the accused’s friend suddenly stopped the car, causing the victim to fall to the ground.

The accused and his friend drove away from the scene while the victim sustained injuries due to the incident.

In a separate case, four men were jailed between four and five months each by another Sessions Court here on separate charges of entering the state illegally.

Judge Azreena Aziz also ordered two of the men to be given one stroke of the cane after all of them admitted to entering Sabah without valid travel documents.

The court also referred the accused persons to the Immigration Department for further action after serving their jail terms.