A 36-year-old unemployed man has been sentenced to two years and nine months’ imprisonment after pleading guilty to house trespass with intent to commit theft and stealing a car in separate incidents.
Amirskandar bin Ali was sentenced by Intermediate Court Judge Pengiran Masni Pengiran Haji Bahar on February 11.
He faced two charges under Section 451 of the Penal Code read with Section 34 for house trespass with intent to commit theft, and Section 379 read with Section 34 for theft of a vehicle.
The first offence occurred in the early hours of June 25, 2025 at a Nasi Katok stall at No. 1, Simpang 159, Jalan 3, Perpindahan Lambak Kanan.
Amirskandar, together with Muhammad Saifuddin and Awang Muhammad Saifullah, went to the stall, where Saifullah forced open the padlock while Amirskandar assisted in removing the stolen property.
Items taken included four gas cylinders, a CCTV camera, raw chicken, a cash box and a TV box, with an estimated total value of BND700.
Two gas cylinders were later sold for BND100 and another two for BND80, with the proceeds shared among the three men. Police recovered two of the cylinders, while the remaining items were not recovered.
The second offence involved the theft of a Daihatsu Charmant on July 10, 2025.
Amirskandar, his girlfriend Siti Khatijah and Haji Januddin, also known as Haji Tin, arranged for a tow truck to remove the vehicle from the house of the complainant’s uncle while he was away.
They subsequently obtained false documentation from a friend, Moh Solahie, known as Sisol, and sold the vehicle to a scrap metal shop for BND140.
Amirskandar kept BND50 while the remainder was shared between Haji Tin and Sisol.
He later admitted that the theft was motivated by retaliation after the complainant had previously damaged his car.
Police arrested Amirskandar during investigations, and he confessed to both offences.
He initially pleaded guilty to the car theft charge on August 18, 2025 but claimed trial to the house-trespass charge. He later changed his plea to guilty while the prosecution was calling its fourth witness.
The court was satisfied that he understood the nature and consequences of his guilty pleas.
In determining sentence, the court emphasised that offences against property are serious and require deterrent sentences in the public interest to protect the public and their property.
The court referred to previous Court of Appeal decisions in which a two-year imprisonment term was upheld for offenders with clear records who pleaded guilty to house trespass under Section 451.
The court also recognised the guilty plea as a mitigating factor. As Amirskandar pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity in relation to the first charge after initially claiming trial, he was entitled to a one-third discount from the starting point.
For the house-trespass charge, the court considered that the offence fell within the limb carrying a maximum of 10 years’ imprisonment where the intended offence was theft. Taking into account his clean record, the court adopted a starting point of three years and imposed two years’ imprisonment after the appropriate reduction.
For the vehicle theft, the court noted that vehicle thefts are prevalent and deterrent sentences are necessary in the public interest. A starting point of 12 months’ imprisonment was considered appropriate for an offender with a clear record, subject to the guilty plea discount.
Amirskandar was therefore sentenced to nine months’ imprisonment for the vehicle theft.
The court also considered his plea for leniency based on his wife and children depending on him financially, as well as his outstanding loans.
However, the court held that hardship to an offender’s family is not normally a mitigating factor, as it is a consequence of the offender’s criminal conduct.
Applying the totality principle, the court ordered the two sentences to run consecutively because the offences arose from different transactions, occurred at different times and involved different victims.
Amirskandar was therefore sentenced to a total of two years and nine months’ imprisonment, backdated to the date he was remanded.
DPP Abdul Musawwir Awang Haji Mahli represented the Public Prosecutor. Amirskandar appeared in person and was unrepresented.