2007 02: No jail for teen robbers

The Star online. News. Courts. Tuesday February 27, 2007

KUALA LUMPUR: Their escapade was more than a teenage prank – they robbed a convenience store with a parang and a knife.

During their daring heist, they took 20 boxes of cigarettes, 11 bottles of beer, RM60.80 in cash and the shopkeeper's cellphone worth over a thousand ringgit.

But because of their young age, four teenagers who admitted to the crime yesterday were spared a jail sentence.

Instead, a magistrate's court here placed them on a three-year good behaviour bond. The teenagers have no previous convictions. The boys – two of them aged 17 years old while the others 18 and 19 – admitted to committing the offence at the 7-Eleven outlet at Jalan Cerdas in Taman Connaught, Cheras, here on Nov 28 last year around 3.20am.

The court was told how the four teenagers – whose identities are withheld – had stormed into the convenience store armed with a parang and a knife before robbing shopkeeper Tengku Muhammad Shah Tengku Ariff, 19, and his colleague of the items.

Police only arrested the teenage robbers about a month later following a tip-off. By then the loot, according to prosecuting officer C/Insp D.R. Ghanthi Nathan, had already been sold off.

In mitigation, the boys' lawyer, N. Satgurunathan urged the court not to impose a custodial sentence so as to give them a chance to “walk the right path.” “They regret their actions and have repented because this incident has brought a lot of trouble to their families as well as themselves,” the lawyer said.

Satgurunathan also requested that his clients' details be withheld from the press in view of their age.

Magistrate Nor Aziati Jaafar, who set the three-year bond at RM4,000 each, ordered the bailors, comprising the boys' family members, to deposit the amount to the court.

“If they commit any offence within these three years, your money will be forfeited and they will be charged in court,” she told them before turning to the four teenagers. “I hope this serves as a lesson to you. You are still young and have a bright future. “Don't ever get yourselves involved in crime again,” the magistrate said before releasing the 17-year-olds on bonds under Section 91 of the Child Act and the older teenagers on bonds under Section 294 of the Criminal Procedure Code.

Nor Aziati also ordered the parents of the 17-year-olds to attend “interactive workshops” together with their sons as stipulated under the Child Act.