KUCHING: A 38-year-old man was sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment by the Sessions Court here on Tuesday (June 16) after being found guilty of committing mischief by fire at a rented house in Kampung Cemerlang, Jalan Setia Raja two years ago.
Judge Noorhisham Mohd Jaafar meted out the sentence on Muhammad Ali Ahmad after ruling that the prosecution had successfully proven its case beyond reasonable doubt.
The court ordered the jail term to run from the date of arrest on Aug 27, 2024.
Muhammad Ali was charged under Section 436 of the Penal Code, which provides for imprisonment of up to 20 years and liability to a fine for mischief by fire or explosive substance with intent to destroy houses or buildings used as dwellings.
According to the charge, the accused committed mischief by fire at about 9.15am on Aug 27, 2024 at Kampung Cemerlang, Jalan Setia Raja, by setting fire to a wooden rental house belonging to his wife.
The act was said to have caused destruction to the longhouse-style rental unit ordinarily used as human dwelling.
Based on the facts of the case, the accused ignited a piece of paper using a lighter before throwing it towards the wooden structure, which resulted in a fire that spread to five other adjoining rental units in the six-door wooden house structure.
The incident was witnessed by a prosecution witness, who was also a neighbour of the accused.
A total of six prosecution witnesses were called during the full trial.
The case was prosecuted by deputy public prosecutor Adriana Maisarah Mohd Farid while the accused was represented by counsel Russell Lim under the Yayasan Bantuan Guaman Kebangsaan (YBGK) scheme.
