Man in Kuching jailed 6 months for stealing cable

KUCHING (Dec 19): The Magistrate’s Court here today sentenced a man to six months in jail after he pleaded guilty to stealing a roll of cable belonging to Telekom Malaysia Bhd (TM) last week.

Magistrate Syarifah Fatimah Azura Wan Ali meted out the sentence against Mohd Shahrul Nizam Jara’ee, 26, who was charged under Section 379 of the Penal Code, which carries a jail term for up to seven years or a fine, or both, upon conviction.

Mohd Shahrul Nizam committed the offence at a building in a commercial centre in Jalan Sungai Maong, Lorong Datuk Temenggong Tan Meng Chong 8 here at around 11.15pm on Dec 14, 2023.

Based on the facts of the case, on the night of the incident, a security guard, who was the complainant, heard a loud noise at the back of the building and decided to conduct an inspection.

During inspection, the complainant saw Mohd Shahrul Nizam pulling the cable from the wall of the building and forbade him from doing so but was ignored by him.

The complainant subsequently detained Mohd Shahrul Nizam before handing him over to the police for further action.

During investigation, a TM technician confirmed that Mohd Shahrul Nizam was not a TM employee and did not have legal permission to take or store cables at the scene.

The technician also confirmed that the seized cables belonged to TM.

A closed circuit television (CCTV) footage at the scene also showed that Mohd Shahrul Nizam had taken a roll of cable.

Insp Ammarsofi Yusoff prosecuted the case while Mohd Shahrul Nizam was unrepresented by a counsel.