Brunei Direct, BSB, 8 May 2002

Thai Men Jailed 8 Years And Ordered Strokes For Attempted Robbery

By Liza Mohamad

Bandar Seri Begawan - The Brunei Intermediate Court yesterday convicted two Thai men of attempting to rob two Bangladeshis and caused hurt to them were yesterday sentenced to eight years in prison and ordered to be whipped 12 times.

However Narong Muangwong, 31, and Phaitoon Choon Chapirom, 29, were acquitted of the two other charges of robbing the Bangladeshis using a 26-inch parang and stealing B$2,845 cash and for the possession of the said weapon an offence under the Public Order Act.

They were instead found guilty of attempting to rob Wadud Dewan, 37, and Rahul Amin Abdul Samad, 31, at house No 6 in Jalan Mulaut, Limau Manis.

During the trial, the two victims claimed they were robbed and would be slashed and beaten up with the parang and a stick if their demands were not met. One of the victims even tried to run and call the police, but was caught and beaten on the head, thus causing injury, which required stitches.

The court heard that the one of the victims answered the door and the defendants went on a rampage. The defendants asked for money, but the victims said they did not have any cash.

However, the defendants managed to find cash of $2,300 below Wadud's mattress and then stole it, the evidence stated. And when one of the defendants tried to ask for money again from Rahul, he kept quiet and was assaulted again.

The assault led to Rahul revealing the cash found in his wallet, which was placed inside his pocket trousers. The robbers then left after getting cash out of the victims.

Fortunately one of the sewers, a Filipino lady, tailoring shop next door witnessed two persons running quickly to a car that night.

The Filipino lady then jotted down the car license plate number and this led to the arrest of Narong. But Phaitoon was arrested a week later in his house in Madewa.

During the trial conducted by Attorney General Chambers prosecuting officer, Shamsuddin bin Hj Kamaluddin, the stolen money was in denominations of $100 as part of their daily proceeds in providing communication services.

But, the shopkeeper who was also called as a witness, Saliah binte Mohammad, told a different story. She told them the money came in denominations of $50, $10 and even in cents.

Judge Hairolarni bin Abd Majid in convicting them stated that there was insufficient evidence there was a robbery. But there was certainly an attempt, he added,

But the court was told that money, which was allegedly stolen, has not been recovered.

Both defendants were convicted of gang robbery under Section 393 of the Penal Code and were sentenced to the minimum jail term of 8 years and 12 strokes of the cane.

Brunei Direct, BSB, 21 May 2002

Army Soldier Given Four Years Jail And Four Strokes For Drug Pushing

By Liza Mohamad

Bandar Seri Begawan - The Brunei Magistrate's Court yesterday sentenced a Brunei soldier, Rudiman bin Sahari, 24, to four years in jail and ordered four strokes of the rattan for having 4.5382 grams of syabu (metamphetamine) for trafficking four years ago.

He was convicted upon completion of trial the Deputy Public Prosecutor Hj Nabil Daraina bin Pehin Dato Hj Badaruddin conducted before Magistrate Haji Abdullah Soefri when seven witness were called.

The court noted that the delay in prosecution was attributed to the fact that the defendant had absconded since 1999 when the trial was initially set.

The defendant also pleaded guilty earlier to consuming syabu on November 25, 1998 and sentencing for the offence was postponed until the settlement of his trafficking charge.

And yesterday the court fined him $1,500 or three months in prison for the first offence which had been hanging for the past four years. The prison sentence was ordered to run from February 4, the date he was arrested.

The trafficking charge he is convicted carries a minimum sentence of three years in prison and three strokes of the rattan.