KUCHING: The Sessions Court here sentenced a jobless man to five years and two months in prison for trespassing into a house and possessing a machete without a reasonable excuse.
Mohamad Noh Alin, 42, pleaded guilty before Judge Iris Awen Jon to two charges under Section 7(1)(a) of the Corrosive and Explosive Substances and Offensive Weapons Act 1958 and Section 448 of the Penal Code.
Under the first charge, he was sentenced to five years and two months in prison for possessing a machete in public without a valid reason. The second charge, for trespassing into an elderly man’s home, earned him an additional one year and three months.
However, the court ordered both sentences to run concurrently from his remand date on March 3, 2023.
The offenses took place at Taman Phoenix, Jalan Batu Kawa, at around 9.50am on Feb 26, 2023.
According to the case facts, the 71-year-old complainant saw an unknown man climbing over his fence and attempting to open the front door of his house.
When the intruder failed, he entered the complainant’s sports utility vehicle (SUV), which was parked in the garage. The complainant immediately alerted the police.
Fifteen minutes later, police found Noh Alin asleep inside the SUV while still wearing a helmet.
Upon searching him, police discovered a backpack, a machete, cable cutters, and a set of car keys belonging to another vehicle owned by the complainant, which had gone missing from the SUV.
Checks revealed that he had prior records related to various offenses.
Further investigation found that he was in possession of a machete when he trespassed into the complainant’s house.
Deputy public prosecutor Mohamad Aiman Mutallib Mohamad Shariff prosecuted the case while Noh Alin was represented by counsel Russell Lim.
