KUALA LUMPUR: A 25-year-old woman broke into tears today when the High Court here reduced her 10-day jail term to five days for a conviction for stealing napkins and baby food for her infant.
Chong Ann Ni, 25, a mother of a 15-month-old baby girl, was convicted by the magistrates court on July 15 and ordered to begin her jail term the same day at the Kajang Prison.
Judge Mohamed Zaini Mazlan today granted her application made on July 16 for a reduced term and declared that she was free to depart from prison, as the young mother had already served five days from Monday.
In his judgement, Mohamed Zaini said the 10-day sentence meted out to Chong, a first-time offender and the mother of a nursing infant, was excessive.
He said other factors he had taken into consideration was Chong’s admission of guilt and the fact that she had already served time in jail.
Lawyers Chan Yen Hui and Raj Surian Pillai, who appeared for Chong, appealed to the court for the reduction on the grounds that their client had resorted to stealing items needed for her baby because of hardships faced on account of her husband being out of work since December of last year.
Chong had committed the act of theft on June 2 at 6.30pm at the AEON supermarket at Mid Valley Megamall here, and was convicted under section 380 of the Penal Code which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years of imprisonment with the possibility of a fine. — Bernama
