Man guilty in Low Yat phone theft case fails in appeal

KUALA LUMPUR: A jobless man failed to set aside his conviction and sentence for stealing a phone at Low Yat Plaza, an act that sparked racial tension two years ago.

High Court Judicial Commissioner Ab Karim Ab Rahman upheld the conviction and sentence by a magistrate’s court that found Shahrul Anuar Abdul Aziz, 23, guilty of stealing a Lenovo phone S860 worth RM800 from a shop at the mall at 4.47pm on July 11, 2015.

The judge, however, amended the charge from Section 380 of the Penal Code to Section 379 of the same Code.

Section 380 of the Penal Code provides for a maximum 10 years’ imprisonment while Section 379, a maximum seven years, or fine, or both.

In his judgment, JC Ab Karim said the amendment was based on evidence that the complainant had passed the mobile phone to the appellant (Shahrul).

“What happened in this case was that the phone was handed over to the appellant before he ran off with it, therefore the theft is on a person and not the premises.

“The court finds that is an offence under Section 379 instead of Section 380,” he said.

The judge also said that such an offence must be dealt with before it spread.

“The court finds that a four-month jail sentence is appropriate for the offence,” he said in dismissing the prosecution’s appeal to increase the sentence.

The court, however, allowed an application by Shahrul’s lawyers Shaharudin Ali and Mohd Khairul Azam Abdul Aziz to postpone the sentencing pending an appeal at the Court of Appeal, with bail of RM3,000.

DPP Siti Aisyah Ahmad appeared for the prosecution.

On May 24, last year, the magistrate’s court sentenced Shahrul to four months in jail and fined him RM1,000 after he was found guilty of stealing the phone which was under the care of shopkeeper See Ming Ho at Techasia Boutique, Low Yat Plaza in Bukit Bintang.