Costly lesson for man caught lighting up at eatery

KUCHING (Dec 1): The Magistrates’ Court here fined a man RM3,000 in default three months’ imprisonment after he pleaded guilty to smoking at an eatery in June this year.

The accused was charged under Section 16(2) of the Public Health (Control of Smoking Products) Act 2024 read together with Section 16(3) of the same Act, which provides for a maximum fine of RM5,000 upon conviction.

“The accused had earlier been issued a notice of offence under Section 47 of the same Act and was given two months to settle the compound at any Health Office.

“However, he failed to appear within the two month period, resulting in the case being filed in court for further action,” the Sarawak Health Department said in a statement.

It said the accused was caught committing the offence during an Ops Rokok operation conducted by the Kuching Division Health Office.

Prosecuting officer Mohd Fairos Ibrahim from the Inspectorate and Legal Unit of the Kuching Division Health Office prosecuted the case before Magistrate Ling Hui Chuan.