By DayakDaily Team
KUCHING, Jan 4: A lorry driver was fined RM4,000 by the Magistrates’ Court here after pleading guilty to making criminal threats against singer Nor Ashimah Ramli, also known as Baby Shima.
In a TVS news report yesterday (Jan 3), Mel Maxpherson Munded from Kampung Bratan, Jalan Borneo Heights, was charged with committing the offence by threatening to kill the artiste, with the intention of causing distress, at about 11pm on Dec 30.
He was charged under Section 506 of the Penal Code which carries a prison sentence of up to seven years or a fine or both if convicted.
Before sentencing, Magistrate Oon Kork Chern asked whether the lorry driver was aware that he had made a criminal threat and he said he was not aware of it because he was under the influence of alcohol at the time.
In mitigation, Mel Maxpherson requested a lenient sentence because he was married and had a child, besides having to take care of his mother, in addition to this being his first offence.
Prosecuting officer ASP Siti Mariyah Dahari requested the court to impose a severe sentence as a lesson to the lorry driver and the public.
Based on the facts of the case, at the time of the incident, Baby Shima was informed by her manager that there were threatening comments from a Facebook user.
Baby Shima then lodged a report at the Sibu police station on Monday, accompanied by Tourism, Arts, and Culture Minister Dato Sri Tiong King Sing.
Following the report, police arrested the suspect in Kota Sentosa the following night.
The singer was in Sarawak to perform at the ‘Motac Bersama Komuniti Sibu’ event at the Azman Hashim Community Sports Complex in Sibu Jaya on December 31, 2024. — DayakDaily
