KOTA KINABALU: A politician was sentenced to eight months’ jail and fined RM5,000 by the Magistrate’s Court here on Friday for molesting an 18-year-old four years ago.
Ex-Sabah STAR Putatan parliamentary coordinator Phillip Among, 55, was handed the sentence after the prosecution proved its case beyond a reasonable doubt in early November.
Magistrate Dzul Elmy Yunus also ordered that Philip be jailed for another four months if he failed to pay the fine.
Earlier, the court heard that Phillip committed the offence against the teenager at about 11pm on April 17, 2021, in the living room of a capsule hotel in Asia City.
However, the court granted Philip’s application to stay execution of the sentence pending appeal against the decision to the High Court.
The court increased another RM5,000 to his previous bail, while additional condition,s such as to have his passport kept by the court and to report to the nearest police station, had been maintained.
The court ordered the fine and additional bail to be paid by the end of Friday (Dec 19).
During Philip’s trial, a total of 10 prosecution witnesses were called to testify, while only one defence witness had been called.
Phillip is also awaiting judgment on four other molest charges involving a 2021 Unduk Ngadau Kaamatan contestant, with the dates for those decisions yet to be fixed.
