Drunken couple fined for unruly behaviour at police station

KOTA KINABALU: A drunken couple of a husband and wife, who were loudly noisy at the Penampang police station compound and became aggressively violent at the attending cops, were each slapped with a fine of RM2,500 by the Magistrate’s Court here yesterday.

Magistrate Afiq Agoes imposed the fines on Sailin Alun, 38, and her spouse, Tony Kindalan, 39, after they both pleaded guilty as charged under Section 90 of the Police Act 1967, punishable under Section 94 of the same Act, read together with Section 34 of the Penal Code and under Section 353 of the Penal Code which carries a jail term of up to two years or a fine or both, upon conviction.

In the first case, Sailin, a full-time housewife and her husband, who earns a living as a lorry driver, were each fined RM500, in default, one month’s jail for unruly behaviour at the police station on March 3.

In their second case, they were each fined RM2,000, in default, four months imprisonment for kicking and shoving the attending police personnel at the same place and day.

In passing sentence, the magistrate asked the couple, “Where did both of you go to ‘moginum’? (Dusun language meaning drink).

The couple said they had gone to ‘moginum’ at the wedding reception of a relative in a village.

The couple kept silent when asked: “Berapa tin kamu hantam?” (How many cans of alcoholic drinks did you consume?).

In pleading for a lenient sentence, counsel Mohd Al Hafidz Mohd Lokman, representing the couple, requested for a lower fine to be imposed as the couple had admitted to their charges and had no previous conviction.

The counsel said the couple were under the influence of alcohol at the time of the incident.

Prosecuting officer Inspector Lim Swee Beng urged the court to impose a custodial sentence on the couple, and if a fine were to be imposed, he called for a higher fine for each of the offenders.

The facts of the case stated that when the personnel heard noises in the police compound, they went to see what happened, and found the husband, Tony, trying to calm down his wife, who was shouting loudly and making noise.

When the cops tried to calm Sailin, she became aggressive.