Prison escapee caught after 154 days on the run gets 4 months’ jail

SIBU: A magistrate’s court here yesterday sentenced a convict who spent 154 days on the run after escaping from Sibu Prison, to four months’ jail and fined him RM2,000 in default two months’ jail.

Magistrate Punitha Sivaraji

Man fined RM1,000 for trespassing into house compound to steal crystal fruits

KUCHING: A 25-year-old man who trespassed into a house at Jalan Astana here last month to steal ‘buah kristal’ or crystal fruit was fined RM1,000 in default 10 days’ jail by the Magistrate’s Court here yesterday.

Magistrate Zaiton Anuar meted out the fine on Mohamad Fairus Dolhan after he pleaded guilty when the charge under Section 448 of the Penal Code was read to him by a court interpreter.

The section provides for a maximum jail term of three years or a fine of up to RM5,000 or both, upon conviction.

The accused was charged with committing criminal trespass by entering the house of a 69year-old complainant at Jalan Merdeka, off Jalan Astana here, on Oct 26 at around 11am.

The facts of the case stated that on the day of the incident, the complainant spotted the accused inside the fenced area of his house.

The accused, who had a saw with him, then climbed up a crystal fruit tree planted in the compound and tried to saw off one of the branches.

When the complainant yelled at him to stop, the accused came down from the tree onto the fence and fled the scene.

However, the complainant’s son spotted him a few minutes later along the side of the road not far from their house, and alerted the police who arrived and detained the accused.

It was informed the accused has several past criminal records involving drug abuse.

Inspector Merylene Lindan Andrew Mang prosecuted the case while the accused was unrepresented. handed down the sentence after Lee Ka Yieng, 49, pleaded guilty to a charge under Section 224 of the Penal Code.

According to the facts of the case, Lee escaped from Sibu Prison on May 30 at about 12.35am by damaging his cell lock before climbing over the fence and running to the town area.

At the time of the escape, the convict had been placed at the prison’s transit centre after being a close contact of a Covid19-positive inmate.

He was arrested in Sarikei on Nov 1 after committing an offence there and handed over to Sibu police.

The court ordered the prison sentence to run from the date of Lee’s arrest on Nov 1.