KOTA KINABALU: An unemployed man who set fire to a car was sentenced to 10 months in jail and fined RM5,000, in default, three months imprisonment by the Sessions Court here.
The incident occurred as the man believed that his wife had an affair with the husband of the owner of the car.
Sessions Court judge Elsie Primus imposed the sentence on Ak Mahathir Pg Bujang, 40, after he pleaded guilty to committing mischief by fire under Section 435 of the Penal Code.
He committed the offence by throwing a firecracker at the car belonging to a woman, 41, in front of a house in Kg Saga-Saga, Membakut, Beaufort on Apr 12.
The punishment provides a jail term of up to 14 years, and fine, on conviction.
In mitigation, Ak Mahathir, who was unrepresented, asked for a lenient sentence to be imposed on him.
He claimed that he wanted to discuss the problem with the victim's husband but ended up committing mischief on the property belonging to the victim.
In reply, Deputy Public Prosecutor Afiqah Alya urged the court to impose a deterrent sentence as a lesson to Ak Mahathir.
The court ordered Ak Mahathir to serve his jail sentence from the date of his arrest.
On Apr 15, it was reported that the accused was arrested on Apr 13 for allegedly setting fire to a car over the suspected affair.
