A local influencer was sentenced to a month in jail and fined RM1,800 by the George Town Magistrates’ Court today after she was convicted of being in possession of a stolen handphone.
Magistrate Nadratun Naim Mohd Saidi handed down the sentence to Sarah Leo Ee May after finding that the prosecution had proven the case beyond a reasonable doubt at the end of a full trial.
She was ordered to serve her sentence from the date of her conviction and if she failed to pay the fine, she would need to sit eight months in jail.
Facts of the case
Berita Harian reported that Leo was accused of stealing a mobile phone worth RM2,000 belonging to her former boyfriend from a vehicle parked at a hospital parking lot on April 26, 2024.
On June 13, she was charged under Section 379 of the Penal Code for theft, which carries a jail term of up to seven years or a fine, or both, upon conviction. Leo pleaded not guilty.
Leo was eventually convicted under Section 411 of the Penal Code for possessing stolen property, which carries a maximum sentence of five years’ imprisonment, a fine, or both, following a full trial.
During proceedings, Deputy Public Prosecutor Ahmad Danial Amir Saad urged the court to impose an appropriate sentence, noting that the case had gone through a full trial with four prosecution witnesses being called to testify.
He added Leo’s offense was of a serious nature and said a deterrent sentence must be meted out to teach the public not to take it lightly.
Leo’s lawyer, Cheah Eng Soon, appealed for a lenient sentence, saying Leo is a single mother who has a young daughter and has to care for her mother who’s suffering from advanced cancer and requires close supervision.
He also urged the court to take several humanitarian factors into consideration, noting that Leo had no prior criminal record, fully cooperated during the investigation, and expressed remorse.
However, this, along with the request to postpone the sentencing, was rejected, with the court saying that such reasons did not constitute “special circumstances” that would allow deferment to take place.
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