Appeal against ‘inadequate’ sentences for parking duo

KUALA LUMPUR: The Attorney-General’s Chambers will appeal the sentences of Lor Ka Hoo and Tan Sit Fun, the married couple who allegedly harassed a female Shah Alam City Council officer over a parking ticket on Thursday.

Attorney-General Tan Sri Mohamed Apandi Ali said the appeal would seek a stiffer punishment as it involved the use of force in preventing a civil servant from carrying out her duty.

This act, he said, is a criminal offence under Section 353 of the Penal Code, which, if convicted, provides for up to two years’ imprisonment, a fine, or both.

He said the chambers viewed that the couple’s conviction of 14 days’ jail and a fine of RM3,000, and if there was failure to pay would result in another seven days of imprisonment, was too light, and also manifestly inadequate, compared with the offence committed.

“Despite the two accused pleading guilty, the appropriate sentence must still be imposed to teach both of them a lesson, as well as being made an example of so others do not commit such acts,” he said yesterday.

The chambers, he said, had filed an appeal against the sentence passed against Lor and Tan on Friday, the same day the conviction of their sentences was made.

Lor and Tan, both in their 30s, were detained by policemen at 10.24am after the authorities were alerted to the incident on the same day.

A two-minute video of the incident had gone viral on Facebook, and showed the couple blocking 23year-old officer Nurul Ain Isa between two cars at a parking lot.

They appeared to be unhappy after being slapped with a parking ticket, with the wife seen holding on to the officer’s uniform, while the husband prevented her from leaving the area and took photos of the officer.

In the video, the officer was also heard asking her colleague for help.