KUALA LUMPUR: A dispatch rider paid dearly for robbing a foreign tourist of her mobile phone near a renowned shopping mall here four months ago.
Muhammad Ilham Noorazman was sentenced to four years in jail and a stroke of rotan after he pleaded guilty to the offence before Judge Shamsudin Abdullah at the Sessions Court today.
He was charged with robbing a Kazakhstan national, Zarina Seidakhmetova of her Samsung Galaxy S7 worth RM1,686 near The Garden North Tower, Mid Valley at 3.30pm on Aug 14.
The offence falls under Section 392 of the Penal Code which carries maximum 14 years’ imprisonment, or whipping, or fine upon conviction.
Counsel Kartikayan S. who represented the accused pleaded for lenient sentence stating his client has to take care of his ageing mother.
“This is a first offence committed by my client and he was remorseful of his crime,” he said.
However, Deputy Public Prosecutor Nurakmal Farhan Aziz pressed for deterrent sentence against the accused.
“This case involve public interest and could jeopardised our tourism industry,” he said.
The court also ordered Muhammad Ilham’s jail sentence to run from the date of his arrest on Aug 17.