Man jailed for obstructing duty of cops, damaging police car in Kuching

KUCHING (June 18): The Magistrate’s Court here today sentenced a 27-year-old man to a total of two years in jail for obstructing a police officer during a roadblock and damaging a police car.

John Chua Soon Hin from Lingga pleaded guilty before Magistrate Mason Jaro Lenya Barayan and was sentenced to one year in jail for each charge to be served concurrently starting today.

For the first charge, Chua was charged under Section 186 of the Penal Code for obstructing a police officer while the second charge was under Section 427 of the Penal Code for committing mischief by damaging the police car.

Chua committed the first offence at the Kuching-Samarahan Expressway, while the second offence was committed behind an eatery at Jalan Canna here.

Both offences were committed at 12.22am on Jan 27, 2024.

According to the facts of the case, a police team spotted a suspicious car that attempted to evade a roadblock on the Kuching-Samarahan Expressway.

The police then pursued the car towards a building at Jalan Canna and the chase ended behind an eatery where the vehicle collided head-on with the police car, causing damage.

Chua, who drove the car, was then arrested. An inspection in the car also found a weapon believed to be a ‘taji’ (a sharp bladed weapon) which was later seized by the police.

The case was prosecuted by Insp Merylene Lindan Andrew Mang while Chua was unrepresented by counsel.