KOTA KINABALU: A 37-year-old man was sentenced to five years in jail and ordered to receive three strokes of the cane by the Sessions Court here on Wednesday for robbing a woman of her handbag in Putatan.
Judge Hurman Hussain handed down the sentence on Mohd Zainie Sabli after he pleaded guilty to committing the offence with an accomplice still at large.
The robbery took place at 11.21pm on Aug 25 this year while the 23-year-old victim was resting inside her car at Pisang Goreng Erman behind the Golden Putatan compound.
Mohd Zainie was charged under Section 395 of the Penal Code, which carries a maximum of 20 years’ imprisonment and whipping upon conviction, and the court ordered his jail term to begin from the date of arrest.
He pleaded for leniency citing his responsibilities as a father of three, but Deputy Public Prosecutor Fazriel Fardiansyah Abdul Kadir urged for a deterrent sentence, describing the crime as serious and increasingly common.
