Kota Kinabalu: A 55-year-old labourer was sentenced to five years’ jail by the Sessions Court here for keeping two samurai swords without lawful authority.
Binson Suikim pleaded guilty before Judge Zaini Fishir @ Fisal to committing the offence at a house in Kampung Tombovo, Penampang, at about 11am on May 23 this year.
He was charged under Section 7(1) of the Corrosive and Explosive Substances and Offensive Weapons Act 1958, which provides for a jail term of not less than five years and not more than 10 years upon conviction.
The court heard that police conducted an operation at Binson’s house, during which they discovered two homemade samurai swords in a bedroom.
The weapons were seized and Binson was arrested before being taken to the Penampang District Police Headquarters for further investigation.
Investigations revealed that Binson claimed the samurai swords were homemade and had been passed down through his family for generations.
In mitigation, Binson pleaded for leniency, saying the samurai swords were family heirlooms inherited from previous generations.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Fazriel Fardiansyah urged the court to impose an appropriate sentence, noting that Binson’s early guilty plea had saved judicial time and resources.
However, he stressed that the offence was serious, as the law was enacted to safeguard public safety by regulating the possession of offensive weapons.
He said possessing such weapons without lawful authority posed a risk to public peace and security, adding that there were no exceptional circumstances to warrant undue leniency.
The prosecution therefore urged the court to impose a sentence that reflected the gravity of the offence and served as both a specific and general deterrent.
