KOTA KINABALU, Sept 1 ― Mohd Jusnaidi Omar, fugitive and brother of federal minister Tan Sri Noh Omar, was today sentenced to five years’ imprisonment by the Sessions Court here for shooting a mechanic in May last year.

Mohd Jusnaidi, better known as Mat Malaya, was ordered, however, to serve sentence from the date of his remand in June last year by Sessions Court judge Azreena Aziz after she ruled that the defence had failed to raise reasonable doubt over the prosecution’s case.

Mohd Jusnaidi had shot mechanic Alkarim Atun, 36, with a pistol at at the Top Up Aircond Centre along the Jalan Tuaran By-Pass, at 5pm on May 6, 2015

Deputy public prosecutor Husna Abdul Halim, in asking for a deterrent sentence, said that Mohd Jusnaidi was found guilty after a full trial and should receive at least half of what was provided by Section 324 of the Penal Code.

Under the section covering the crime of voluntarily causing harm with a dangerous weapon, he was liable for a maximum of 10 years’ imprisonment, a fine, caning, or any two combinations of the above upon conviction.

“Such a serious offence should be given a heavier punishment. The accused had used a pistol to shoot the victim. Such an instrument is dangerous and could lead to death,” she argued.

Husna added that a gun was not easily procured in Malaysia and that Mohd Jusnaidi had abused his position as a former soldier to do so.

The victim was reportedly shot twice in his right leg and required surgery.

The brother to the urban wellbeing, housing and local government minister had originally been charged with attempted murder, but was freed of the charge earlier.

He was also previously charged with drug trafficking.

Mohd Jusnaidi and his 24-year-old Sabahan wife were arrested at a homestay in Kundasang, near Mount Kinabalu on June 1 last year after police mounted a manhunt for him following the shooting incident the month before.