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TUMPAT – An unemployed man was sentenced to five months' imprisonment by the Magistrate's Court here on Monday after pleading guilty to stealing about RM50 from a mosque donation box in Wakaf Bharu at the end of last month.
The accused, Mohamad Syafizi Md Shuhairi, 34, entered the guilty plea after the charge was read before Magistrate Wan Ashrul Afham Mohamad Azmi.
According to the charge, he was accused of stealing money from the donation box belonging to Masjid Putra Taman SBJ, Wakaf Bharu, inside a building used for storing property at the mosque at about 7pm on June 30.
The offence was charged under Section 380 of the Penal Code, which provides for a jail term of up to 10 years and may also carry a fine.
For a second or subsequent offence, the offender may be sentenced to imprisonment and fined or whipped.
Based on the facts of the case, mosque officials discovered that the donation box had been forced open before reviewing closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage.
The footage showed the accused entering the mosque before stealing the money from the donation box.
The mosque management subsequently lodged a police report, leading to the accused's arrest on July 2.
During the proceedings, Deputy Public Prosecutor Mahfuzah Hamizah Mohd Ariff urged the court to impose a deterrent sentence, arguing that the offence involved theft at a place of worship.
Counsel Roshalizawati Muhammad from the National Legal Aid Foundation (YBGK), who represented the accused, appealed for a lighter sentence on the grounds that her client was unemployed and unmarried.
The court then sentenced him to five months' imprisonment, effective from the date of his arrest.
In the same proceedings, the accused also pleaded guilty to a separate charge of self-administering methamphetamine at the Tumpat district police headquarters on July 2.
The court fixed Oct 13 for mention of the chemistry report in relation to the drug case.
