KUALA LUMPUR: A Canadian man who refused to wear a face mask and scolded a security guard has been fined RM800 by a Magistrate’s Court here.

       Theberge Travis Lee, 44, pleaded guilty to charges of not wearing a face mask and showing a lewd gesture at the guard. Lee paid the fine.

       According to the charge sheet, Lee, who works in the oil and gas industry, was accused of showing the middle finger to the guard Padam Giri with intent to provoke him and disrupt the peace.

       He committed the offence at Village Grocer, M-City, Jalan Ampang at 9.30pm on April 16.

       He was charged under Section 14 of the Minor Offences Act 1955 which provides a maximum fine of RM100.

       Lee also faced a second charge of not wearing a face mask at the same place and time.

       He was charged under Rule 18(1) of the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases (National Recovery Plan) (Transition Phase to Endemic) Regulations 2022, which provides a maximum RM1,000 fine or a maximum six months jail or both, if convicted.

       During mitigation, Lee’s lawyer S. Jayananda Rao told the court that his client is single and is supporting his three siblings in Canada.

       “The accused apologises over the incident and admits it was a stupid move. He went to the police station after finding out the incident had become viral,” he said.

       The lawyer added his client had fully cooperated with the police.

       “His guilty plea has saved the court’s time,” Jayananda said.

       Meanwhile, deputy public prosecutor Wardah Nasuha Safian asked the court to mete out a sentence to serve as a lesson.

       Magistrate S. Mageswary then sentenced Lee to the maximum RM100 in default of a day in jail for the first charge (lewd gesture).

       For the second charge (not wearing a face mask), the accused was sentenced to a RM700 fine in default of two weeks’ jail.

       On April 17, a video depicting a foreign man who was not wearing a face mask and showing a lewd gesture while hurling expletives at a security guard at a supermarket in Ampang went viral on social media.

       The man was detained by the police the next day after he went to the Wangsa Maju district police headquarters to give his statement.