Low Yat trio fined for beating up alleged thief

KUALA LUMPUR: Three mobile phone salesmen, who beat up a jobless man for shoplifting in Low Yat Plaza last month, were fined RM1,800 each for committing assault.

In the event that they do not pay the fines, the court also meted out a default jail term of two months for each of them.

However, they paid the fine.

Magistrate Muhamad Faizal Ismail sentenced Low Leong Seng, 29, Eric Chan Weng, 23, and Soo Weng Hing, 26, after they admitted to the charge on Monday.

The three men who work for a telecommunication shop committed the offences following the purported shoplifting incident on July 11.

Low, Chan and Soo were jointly accused of causing injury to Shahrul Anuar Abdul Aziz, 22, at Level G in Plaza Low Yat here.

The statement of facts showed that complainant Mohamad Khairul Azmi Mazlan went to a handphone shop in Low Yat Plaza to look for his handphone. His friend Shahrul Anuar followed to help in the search but they failed to find the device.

Mohamad Khairul, 22, and Shahrul Anuar then split up. He went down to the ground floor via an escalator when suddenly he heard a commotion and people shouted that a man had stolen a handphone and asked people to nab the person.

Upon reaching the scene, he saw Shahrul Anuar was beaten by a group of workers and tried to help his friend. Instead, the group had accused him for abetting Shahrul Anuar and began to beat him.

In asking for leniency, the trio who were unrepresented, said that they were the youngest sons in the family and need to support their parents.

Deputy Public Prosecutor N. Joy Jothi urged the court to mete out an appropriate sentence as the case has attracted nationwide interest.

On July 14, Shahrul claimed trial to stealing a Lenovo S860 smartphone, valued at RM800, from a shop at the plaza. His case was fixed for mention on Aug 14.

Following the July 11 brawl, the two men who were assaulted, reportedly returned to the plaza with a group of seven men and attacked those who had helped to nab them.