Man jailed six years for retaining stolen items

KOTA KINABALU: A 31-yearold man was sentenced to a total six years in jail for three counts of retaining various stolen items.

Magistrate Cindy Mc Juce Balitus imposed the sentence on Chong Jia Huan after he pleaded guilty to all the charges under Section 411 of the Penal Code.

The charge carries a jail term of up to five years and also liable to a fine or to both, upon conviction.

On the first count, Chong received two years in jail for possessing a stolen praying necklace which belonged to Yap Vui Kian, 25.

Then, he received another two years' jail for possessing a pair of stolen sport shoes belonging to Lee Vun Ket, 25.

He was given another two years' jail for possessing a stolen Sony Viao laptop belonging to Tan Beng Seng, 62.

All of the offences took place in front of a house in Taman Sri Kionsom, Inanam on September 1.

Apart from that, Chong was also jailed for 10 months for consuming syabu.

The magistrate ordered for the jail sentence to run concurrently and Chong is to be placed under police supervision for two years after serving the sentence.

In a separate case, Chong and another two men, Ling Huo Shyang, 20, and Lim Kian Wah, 32, were each jailed for 22 months for breaking into a hotel room and stealing a tourist's bag.

The stolen blue bag contained cosmetics, a phone charger and a white bead necklace belonging to a 60-year-old China woman, Zhuoran Li.

They pleaded guilty before the magistrate to a joint charge under Section 457 of the Penal Code, which carries a jail term of up to 14 years and for a subsequent offence will also liable to a fine or whipping, upon conviction.

The trio had committed the offence at a hotel in Sepanggar, Manggatal between 6.30am and 10.40am on August 31.

In mitigation, the trio who were not represented prayed for leniency on the grounds that they have families to support.

Prosecuting officer Inspector Albert Basiri, however, urged for a deterrent sentence to be imposed against the accused persons.

The facts of the case stated that the complainant went back to her hotel room after having breakfast.

However, she could not open the door as the room was locked from inside and she asked for help from a hotel staff.

As the room opened, she realized that her bag and her sister's bag were missing.

Investigations were made and the trio were in a CCTV recording at the hotel which clearly showed the trio were in the hotel area and had used a white car for transportation.

Meanwhile, Ling and Lim were also sentenced to 16 months and two years, respectively, for other offences involving stolen properties.

Ling had been making away with a stolen laptop which belonged to Lee at a computer shop in Karamunsing on September 1.

The offence was framed under Section 414 of the Penal Code, which carries a jail term of up to seven years or with a fine, or both, upon conviction.

Lim had retained a stolen red luggage which belonged to Tan at a factory in Kampung Mensiang, Manggatal on September 1.