Man pleads guilty to stealing motorcycle, jailed one year; another still at large

KUCHING: A 40-year-old man was sentenced to a year in prison after he pleaded guilty in the Magistrates’ Court here yesterday to stealing a motorcycle at Sarawak General Hospital (SGH) last year.

Mohamad Zaidel Sidi made the plea before magistrate Syarifah Fatimah Azura Wan Ali after the charge under Section 379A of the Penal Code was read to him.

The Section provides for a jail term of not less than one year and not more than seven years, or a fine, upon conviction.

Mohamad Zaidel together with another man still at large committed the offence at SGH’s motorcycle parking lot between 8am and 1pm on Nov 1, 2023.

According to the facts of case, the owner of the motorcycle, 43, lodged a police report after discovering his machine missing from the hospital’s parking lot.

Acting on the report, police arrested Mohamad Zaidel and recovered the stolen motorcycle.

Investigations found that the motorcycle’s colour had been changed but its chassis and engine numbers matched those of the one reported stolen.

In a separate case in the same magistrates’ court, two men were fined RM3,500 each in default five months’ jail for retaining stolen cables belonging to Telekom Malaysia.

Syarifah Fatimah convicted Nur Afif Farihin Ishak, 26, and Mohd Iswandy Hasani, 37, on their own guilty plea under Section 411 of the Penal Code read together with Section 34 of the same Code.

The Section carries a jail term of up to five years or a fine, or both, upon conviction.

The duo committed the offence at the side of a road in BDC here at around 4.30am on Feb 24.

Based on the facts of the case, a police team on patrol came across the duo on a motorcycle behaving in a suspicious manner.

An inspection found the two accused in possession of four rolls of cables worth about RM2,000 along with various tools.

Both cases were prosecuted by ASP Arman Ibrahim.