SEPANG: Three Chinese nationals were sentenced to three months in prison by the Magistrate’s Court today for pickpocketing at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) Terminal 1 on Oct 21.
The court ordered the prison sentence for three men to be enforced from the date of their arrest on Oct 25.
Magistrate Muhammad Bukhori Md Ruslan meted out the punishment after considering various factors, including the guilty pleas of two of the accused, which helped save prosecution costs and court time, as well as the seriousness of the offence.
The three men were also ordered to pay compensation of RM7,622; failure to do so will result in an additional three months in jail.
Zhou Jiang, Huang Yang, and Hu Hairong, all in their 50s, were charged under Section 379 and Section 34 of the Penal Code, which allows for a prison sentence of up to seven years, a fine, or both upon conviction.
Based on the evidence presented, the three accused were found to have committed the crime of pickpocketing the bags of Japanese nationals at KLIA Terminal 1 around 6 pm on Oct 21.
Additionally, one of the accused, Zhou Jiang, was charged under Section 379 of the Penal Code for using a stolen credit card to purchase 13 packets of cigarettes.
He was sentenced to three months in prison and ordered to pay compensation of RM215.90; failure to do so will result in an additional month of imprisonment.
The prosecution was conducted by deputy public prosecutor, Nur ‘Ain Madihah Zulkifli and the three accused were represented by lawyer Eryanie Abdul Rahim.
