BY Fadley Faisal

The Intermediate Court on Tuesday handed a sentence of six years and 10 months’ jail with three canings to a local man following a trial which found him guilty of break-ins and other theft-related offences.

Saufi bin Seruji was first charged, with a woman accomplice, in 2020 when he denied the two counts of housebreaking for theft, one auto theft, one mischief and one offence of switching the stolen vehicle’s number plates.

His accomplice only faced the theft charges, pleaded guilty immediately and received her sentences.

Prosecutor Aeny Zullizam’s case against the defendant had always been that he broke into a restaurant in Batu Satu during the wee hours on April 18, 2020 making away with some electronic appliances, drinks and cash along with the cash machine.

He then made his way to another restaurant nearby at The Crown Princess Complex, broke in and ransacked it.

He managed to make away with a carton of chilli sauce, two bottles of cooking oil, five raw chickens from the kitchen sink, a thermometer and two mobile phones from the storage room. Before he left, he opened the cash register, found a set of car keys, unlocked a car and drove off.

Later in Kampong Bengkurong the defendant came across a seemingly abandoned car, took its number plates and switched it with the ones on the stolen car. The defendant also caused damage by spray painting a section of the car.

The prosecution produced a number of witnesses to include the defendant’s accomplice.

Judge Harnita Zelda Skinner, on examining evidence, dismissed the defendant’s evidence on finding discrepancies in his and his accomplice’s testimonies.

-- Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin