KUANTAN, Nov 5 — The Sessions Court here today sentenced an eatery shop assistant to seven years’ jail and two strokes of the rotan after he pleaded guilty to a charge of robbing a Form Three female student about two months ago.

Judge Dazuki Ali ordered that the jail sentence imposed on Sheikh Norafzan Abdul Ghani, 31, from Wakaf Bharu, Kelantan, begin from the date of his arrest on September 16.

The accused was charged with robbing Heng Khai Qi, 15, at 4am on September 11 at Lorong Indera Mahkota 6/2 here by snatching her backpack containing RM400 and an iPhone and a Huawei phone.

The victim who was returning from a nearby fast-food restaurant claimed she suffered losses of RM1,000.

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For his offence, the accused was charged under Section 392 of the Penal Code which provides for a jail sentence of up to 14 years and can be fined or caned, if found guilty.

At the proceedings, the accused who was not represented by counsel, pleaded for a lighter sentence because he had to look after his siblings as their parents had died.

However, Deputy Public Prosecutor Haryati Abdullah urged the court to impose a deterrent sentence as the accused had a knife and chased the victim, and he also had a previous record for trespassing.

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In his judgement, Dazuki advised the accused not to repeat the offence and he should think of the long-term effect of being involved in crimes which could put other people’s lives at risk.

“You are lucky that you did not stab the victim while you were armed. If you were being robbed, would you have been angry? What if the same thing happened to your sister or other family members?

“The offence was serious. I think you are also very lucky that the victim did not fall down as you snatched her bag. If she had been injured, it would have been worse for you,” he said. — Bernama