11 years behind bars, whipping for mechanic

PETALING JAYA: A mechanic was sentenced to 11 years jail and five strokes of the cane after being found guilty by the Session's Court here today of robbing a cashier of RM500 while armed with a screwdriver at a cyber centre.
Judge Mohammed Mokhzani Mokhtar meted out the sentence to G. Puvanesan, 26, after he failed to raise a reasonable doubt in the prosecution's case.
"After considering the prosecution and defence's submissions and the accused's mitigation, the court hereby finds the accused guilty and sentence him to 11 years jail and five lashes of the whip," he said.
Puvanesan who was ordered to serve his sentence from today, was charged with using a screwdriver to coerce Lem Choon Hua, 52, into handing him RM500 at a cyber centre in Kayu Ara, Damansara here, at 1 am on Oct 29, last year.
The charge under Section 392/397 of the Penal Code carries up to 14 years jail and liable to a fine or whipping on conviction.

Five prosecution witnesses and one defence witness – Puvanesan himself, testified in the trial which began in May.
Earlier in mitigation, the youth who was unrepresented said he came from a poor family and that his mother had recently passed away. He also told the court that he was the sole breadwinner.
However, deputy public prosecutor V. Suloshani urged the court to impose an appropriate sentence in view of the seriousness and rampancy of the offence. — Bernama