A foreign man was sentenced to seven years in prison after he pleaded guilty to trespassing a restaurant in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah and stealing a load of seafood.
The accused, Lajah Musa Habibullah, made the guilty plea before Judge Hurman Hussain when the charge was read out to him at the Kota Kinabalu Sessions Court yesterday (Oct 16).
Broke into restaurant & stole groupers, lobsters
Based on the charge sheet, Lajah and his accomplice, broke into the restaurant located at Gaya Street at around 5am on Feb 24, 2025.
The case facts stated that the restaurant’s operations manager was alerted of the incident by a staff member at about 8.58am on the same day.
A closer inspection later revealed that pry marks were found on the main door and that 15 groupers and five lobsters had gone missing.
At 11.30pm, Lajah was caught by police at SAFMA market on suspicion of his involvement in the break-in and theft.
As for his accomplice, he still remains at large.
Sentenced to 7-year jail term
NST reported that CCTV footage of the incident was played during court proceedings, where it showed Lajah and his accomplice entering the restaurant and catching the lobsters and groupers with their hands before putting them into a bucket.
Lajah, who was unrepresented and an illegal immigrant, pleaded for a lighter sentence in mitigation and asked that it run from the date of his arrest, on the grounds that he is married with three children.
In turn, Deputy public prosecutor Fazriel Fardiansyah Abdul Kadir urged for a deterrent sentence to be handed out, saying the restaurant suffered RM5,000 in losses and that the offense was severe and rampant.
Lajah was eventually sentenced to seven years in jail and ordered to serve it from the day of his arrest.
He will also be referred to the Immigration Department upon completing his sentence.
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