KUCHING: An unemployed man was sentenced to 10 months in jail by the Sessions Court here, after he pleaded guilty to arson and causing partial damages to a fruit shop at Jalan Padungan.
Judge Saiful Bahari Adzmi ordered Zulkipli, 31, to serve his prison term effective from the date of his arrest on Oct 22.
According to the charges, he was accused of burning down part of a fruit shop owned by a 61-year-old man, incurring losses of RM5,000.
He committed the offence at a shophouse around 10.50 pm on Oct 19.
Therefore, Zulkipli was charged under Section 435 of the Penal Code which carries a prison sentence of up to 14 years and liable to a fine, upon conviction.
According to the facts of the case, the complainant was informed by his employee that the table in front of his shop caught fire and upon arriving at the scene, the fire had already been put out by the Fire and Rescue Department.
Checks on the CCTV footage found that a man had set fire to the owner’s shop.
A police report was made and it led to Zulkipli’s arrest on Oct 22, around 12 am in front of a hall in Kampung Gersik.
Investigation found that he deliberately burned paper in front of the shop until it spread to other areas.
Deputy public prosecutor Mohammad Fauzan Zamri prosecuted the case while, Zulkipli was unrepresented by a counsel.
