KUALA LUMPUR: The Sessions Court today sentenced two friends to three years’ jail and four strokes of rotan each for robbing two e-hailing drivers in December.
Judge Mahyon Talib meted out the sentence after the accused, R. Nanthakumar, 33, and C. S. Komagan, 41, pleaded guilty to two counts of charges against them.
For the first charge, they were accused of committing gang robbery on Ton Kwong Hong, 29, by taking away two mobile phones and RM150 cash, with overall value of RM2,000 while wielding a knife in front of Flat San Peng, Dang Wangi here at 12.50pm on Dec 2, 2018.
For the second charge, they allegedly committed the same offence on Mohamad Aniff Azahari Hamidi, 29, by robbing the victim’s wallet, two mobile phones and RM400 cash, worth a total of RM1,000 at a hotel’s carpark at Jalan Pudu here at 2.20pm on Dec 4, 2018.
They were charged under Section 395/397 of the Penal Code which carries a maximum penalty of 20-year imprisonment and liable to whipping.
The court ordered for the sentence to run from the date of arrest on Dec 11, 2018.
Earlier, the accused, who were unrepresented, appealed for lesser sentence as they were the sole breadwinner in their families.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Siti Hajar Mohd Ashif however requested that the court meted out a fair punishment and took into consideration the rising number robbery cases.
According to the facts of face, the accused had used the e-hailing application under pretense of booking a ride as a passenger prior to the robberies.
The duo then committed the crime and took away valuable items after boarding the vehicles.