KOTA KINABALU: A clerk who was sentenced to 14 days' imprisonment for stealing beauty products from a store, pleaded for a non-custodial sentence as she has a cat at home.
Norandriani Herwan Guntur, 29, also begged not to be sent to jail because she needs to go back to work and has two dependents - an elderly mother and a wheelchair-bound brother due to an accident.
"I also have a cat at home. I need to take care of them," she said in tears.
Magistrate Wan Farrah Farizza Wan Ghazali, explained to her that the offence she committed provides for a mandatory jail sentence.
Norandriani admitted to stealing beauty products including a body shower soap from a store at a shopping complex here on Oct 12.
The offence under Section 380 of the Penal Code provides for a jail term of up to 10 years and a fine and whipping, upon conviction.
The facts of the case state that the store's staff noticed Norandriani behaving suspiciously.
The staff went to check on the store's CCTV and found that Norandriani had taken those items, hid them inside her bag, and left the store without making any payment.
Several store's staff when to stop Norandriani, who refused to be brought back to the store, however, she had taken out all those items from the bag.
Deputy public prosecutor Ling Guong Zhin urged the court to impose an appropriate sentence on her and informed the court that Norandriani had no previous conviction record.
To another question, Ling said all stolen items amounting RM223.10 were recovered.