KOTA KINABALU: A 31-year-old single father was sentenced to three months in jail for stealing 18 1kg Milo packets.

       Magistrate Lovely Natasha Charles Friday (April 29) sentenced unemployed Yassin Muhammad Nur after he pleaded guilty to the charge under Section 380 of the Penal Code, which carried a jail term of up to 10 years, or with fine, on conviction.

       The court also ordered Yassin to serve the jail sentence from the date of his arrest on April 9 this year.

       Yassin was accused of stealing the Milo packets at KWC The Grocer in Asia City here at 2.30pm on April 9.

       Prior to sentencing, Yassin's counsel Lawrence Lim from the National Legal Aid Foundation in mitigation urged for leniency as he was a single father and needed to look after his child.

       Lim said Yassin had committed the offence because he was desperate for money at that time.

       Insp Kelvan Elson Maik, who prosecuted, urged the court to impose an appropriate sentence.

       According to the facts tendered in court, Yassin had entered the KWC Grocer in Asia City and picked up the 18 Milo packets, and left the shop without paying.

       He had apparently used a shopping trolley from another shop to escape with the Milo packets.

       When the cashier and a friend tried to stop Yassin, he threatened to stab them.

       Police arrested Yassin at a stall in Kg Air area adjacent to Asia City here. They also recovered the Milo packets.

       Yassin, who was from the east coast Kunak, told police he stole the items because he wanted to sell it to get money.