By Dorcas Ting
KUCHING, Aug 18: A 33-year-old man was sentenced to 12 months’ imprisonment by the Magistrates’ Court here today after being foiled by a global positioning system (GPS) tracker that was planted inside a vacuum cleaner he stole from a house at Jalan Stephen Yong here last week.
Mohamad Ridzuwan pleaded guilty before Magistrate Mason Jaro Lenya Barayan to a charge under Section 379 of the Penal Code, which carries a maximum penalty of seven years’ jail, a fine, or both.
The court heard that around 2am on August 14, the accused broke into a house at Homelands Garden and stole an Electrolux vacuum cleaner belonging to a 32-year-old man. The theft was caught on closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage.
Following a police report, investigations led to Ridzuwan’s arrest at a Muslim cemetery in Jalan Batu Kitang. He later revealed where he had hidden the stolen vacuum cleaner.
Prosecutors told the court this was not the first time the accused had stolen from the victim’s house. It was also revealed that the victim had earlier planted a GPS tracker inside the vacuum cleaner to help police trace the stolen item.
With the evidence, including CCTV recordings and the recovery of the stolen property, investigators confirmed the accused’s involvement in the crime. — DayakDaily
