Habitual offender gets another 15 years, 3 strokes
KUCHING: A habitual offender was sentenced to another 15 years’ jail and three strokes of the cane by the Sessions Court here yesterday for committing gang robbery.
Zukipli Morni, 35, had pleaded guilty to the offence before Judge Timothy Finlayson Joel who convicted him under Section 395 and Section 397 of the Penal Code.
He admitted to have committed the offence around 2.30pm on Jan 13 last year at a 24-hour convenience store in Jalan Canna here.
Two other persons - Rahmad Mahidi, 38, and Zulkipli’s younger brother Mohd Saifulikri, 27 – are also charged with the offence.
They, however, claimed trial and the court fixed Jan 28 for further mention. They could face imprisonment of up to 20 years and whipping on conviction.
The court was told that three men had entered the shop, with one of them pretending to buy a bottle of mineral water.
The staff behind the counter was threatened with a knife. The trio then took RM2,300 from the cash register and fled the scene in a Perodua Viva car.
They are dubbed ‘Geng Viva’ for committing several robberies with the car, which belongs to Zulkipli’s wife.
They were picked up by the police on Feb 15 in Kota Samarahan, and investigations revealed that they were connected to several robbery cases involving 24-hour convenience stores in Kuching, Padawan and Samarahan.
Zukipli has been sentenced to a total of 40 years’ jail and seven rotan strokes for committing five robbery cases, and another seven months’ jail for escaping from police custody.
All the sentences, including yesterday’s were ordered to run consecutively. He will thus serve a total of 61 years in prison and 12 strokes of the cane.
Zulkipli, who appeared unrepresented, requested that he serves the sentence in Sri Aman Prison, which was granted by the judge.
DPP Tengku Najiha Tengku Zahari said a deterrent sentence should be imposed as he (Zulkipli) had several serious robbery convictions.