KOTA SAMARAHAN: Two unemployed men were each sentenced to 12 years’ imprisonment and six strokes of the rotan by the Sessions Court here today after pleading guilty to committing an armed gang robbery at a house in Kampung Semera Ulu, Sadong Jaya.
Shafiza Abdul Razak Tready handed down the sentence after the charge was read before the court.
The two convicted men were identified as 35-year-old Mohamad Yunus Gapor and 29-year-old Muhammad Afif Rosli.
The offence was framed under Section 395 of the Penal Code and read together with Section 397 of the same Code, which provides for imprisonment of up to 20 years and whipping upon conviction.
Section 397 further provides for whipping where an offender is armed with a deadly weapon during the commission of a robbery.
They were jointly charged with another suspect who remains at large with committing gang robbery at about 9:30 pm on June 21 at an unnumbered house in Kampung Semera Ulu, Sadong Jaya, Asajaya, within the Kota Samarahan district.
According to the charge, the trio robbed 70-year-old man of a red Kawago TB33 grass cutter and a fishing net while armed with a machete.
Based on the facts of the case, the victim was watching television at his home when three masked men forced their way into the house after kicking open the back door.
Two of the intruders were armed with long machetes while the third carried an iron rod.
Besides the grass cutter and fishing net, the robbers also made off with about RM3,000 in cash, a Realme mobile phone, the victim’s identity card and birth certificate, as well as three machetes. The total losses were estimated at RM3,650.
Police arrested Yunus and Afif on June 23 during an operation in Kampung Semera Ulu, Asajaya.
Subsequent investigations led police to recover the stolen Kawago TB33 grass cutter from a forested area in front of the Kampung Semera Health Clinic after Afif directed investigators to its location.
Yunus later led police to recover the stolen fishing net and a striped long-sleeved T-shirt believed to have been worn during the robbery from his house in Kampung Semera Tengah.
Investigations found that both the accused had participated in the armed gang robbery together with another suspect who remains at large.
The recovered grass cutter and fishing net were positively identified by the victim as his property, while the clothing seized was also identified as having been worn by one of the robbers during the offence.
The prosecution was conducted by Mohd Fadzri Azham Zainudin, while both the accused were unrepresented.
