JOHOR BARU: A tour bus driver was fined RM6,000 in default one year's jail by the magistrate's court here today for causing damage to a Taiwanese woman's car.
The sentence was handed down after Mohd Nazri Elias, 38, pleaded guilty before magistrate Hidayatul Syuhada Shamsudin.
He was accused of committing mischief by breaking the side mirrors and scratching a grey Peugeot car, causing a loss of RM5,000 to the victim.
The offence was allegedly committed at KM0.3 of Jalan Pantau heading towards Permas Jaya here at 9.05pm on Dec 20.
The charge under Section 427 of the Penal Code carries a maximum penalty of five years' imprisonment, a fine, or both, upon conviction.
In mitigation, Nazri's lawyer, Norfarahin Mohd Yazid from the National Legal Aid Foundation, told the court that he was married but had no children.
She said Nazri's wife was unemployed and he worked part-time as a bus driver, earning RM50 a day.
Deputy public prosecutor R. Nevina sought an appropriate sentence, considering the losses incurred by the victim.
According to the case facts, the victim had lodged a police report alleging that while driving from a shopping mall in Mid Valley to Taman Permas Jaya here, she attempted to switch to the middle lane when a bus behind her honked persistently.
The woman braked and stopped her car in the right lane, after which the bus blocked her path.
The accused then alighted from the bus, approached the car and attempted to open its front door.
He proceeded to strike the car window, kick the front door several times, climb onto the car bonnet and shatter the car's windshield.
He was arrested by police at 5pm on Dec 23 at the Johor Baru South district police headquarters' traffic police station.