KUALA LUMPUR, May 6 — Malaysian Nur Fitri Azmeer Nordin was given an 18-month sentence for possessing child pornography, said the Southwark Crown Court today when contradicting London police who reported a five-year term.

A Southwark Crown Court spokesperson confirmed the lesser sentence today when contacted for confirmation of Majlis Amanah Rakyat’s (MARA) claim of the reduced sentence for its sponsoree.

“Mr Nordin (sic) was sentenced to 18 months imprisonment on April 30, 2015,” the spokesman told Malay Mail Online via email.

Initial reports by the British media cited a five-year sentence for the Malaysian.

The sentence became muddled when MARA said on Monday that according to British law, a foreigner who has served two-thirds of his sentence is qualified to be deported to his home country and claimed this would be within four weeks of Nur Fitri’s conviction date.

Today, it explained that the sentence was cut from the original five years following “considerations” by the British courts.

The shock in Malaysia over Nur Fitri’s conviction has since been surpassed by the anger over MARA’s purported decision to take him back once his sentence is completed.

Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin and social activist Datin Paduka Marina Mahathir were among those who lambasted the “second chance” given to Nur Fitri, while other Malaysians have also taken to starting an online petition to press MARA not to go through with any such offer.

According to the British media last week, Nur Fitri, who was studying on a MARA scholarship at Imperial College London, one of the world’s top universities, was found to be in possession of over 30,000 videos and photographs of child pornography.

Police who raided his home in London found the youth sitting beside a life-sized mannequin of a young boy. He reportedly possessed 601 “Category A” videos and images, which depicted abuse involving penetrative sexual acts with children.