Kota Kinabalu: A 34-year-old man was jailed a total of 31 months by the Magistrate’s Court, here, on two counts of housebreaking and removing stolen property.
Tseu Sze Min pleaded guilty before Magistrate Marilyn Kelvin to both charges.
He was jailed 16 months for breaking into a house at Taman Hiburan, Penampang, with the intention of committing theft at 2pm on Aug 10.
The offence was committed under Section 457 of the Penal Code, which provides for a jail term of up to 14 years, on conviction.
On the second charge, Tseu was jailed 15 months for removing a stolen white safe bearing the words “NOTES COLLECTION BIN”, belonging to Bubble Laundrette, beside Jalan Cenderakasih, Metro Town, Luyang, at 1.30am, on Aug 17.
He was charged under Section 414 of the Penal Code, which carries a jail term of up to seven years, or a fine, or both, on conviction.
The court ordered the sentences to run from the date of his arrest.
In presenting the facts of the case, on the first case, the prosecution informed the court that the owner of the house was at work on Aug 10 when he monitored the live feed from his home’s CCTV system and saw two men near his neighbour’s fence, apparently observing his house.
The CCTV feed was cut off.
When the complainant returned home at about 3.40pm, he found the rear kitchen door damaged and ajar.
The house had been ransacked, and the CCTV wires had also been disconnected.
Tseu was arrested on Aug 24 in connection with the case.
Investigations revealed that Tseu had entered the house compound, sprayed paint on the CCTV camera and prised open the door with a screwdriver before entering the house and stealing various items.
Some of the stolen items were sold to obtain syabu, while an Acer laptop was given to his friend, Wong Ming Teck @ Rudy Wong, to be sold.
In the second case, the prosecution told the court that the laundrette had been broken into on Aug 14, with cash and washing machine tokens reported missing.
Police investigations subsequently linked Tseu to the case, while the white safe recovered based on information provided during the investigation was positively identified as belonging to the laundrette.
Meanwhile, a 49-year-old self-employed man claimed trial in the Magistrate’s Court here to disposing of a stolen laptop.
Wong Ming Teck @ Rudy Wong pleaded not guilty before Marilyn to disposing of a stolen Acer laptop belonging to Chong Yung Ken at about 3.30pm on Aug 24 at a premises in Penampang.
The charge was framed under Section 414 of the Penal Code.
The prosecution proposed bail of RM5,000.
However, duty counsel Lim Ming Zoong @ Lawrence, representing Wong, requested a lower amount, saying his client was married, self-employed and responsible for caring for his mother.
Marilyn fixed Oct 1 for pre-trial case management and released Wong on RM1,300 bail in two sureties.
He was also ordered to report to the investigating officer once a month.
Inspectors Yusdi Basri and Dzulfamie Amrin prosecuted.
