Shoe Thieves Caught With 12 Pairs And Jailed
By Md Ezam and Malai FadleyRizal

Bandar Seri Begawan - Shoe thieves beware! Yesterday, a 41-year-old foreigner, Bahasa Jiwa Singh, was sentenced to a year and six months jail when he pleaded guilty to stealing 12 pairs of shoes four days ago in Jln Tutong near the Brunei capital.

Bahasa admitted to the facts tendered in by police prosecuting officer, which stated that Bahasa stole the footwear belonging to residents of DYMM flat at Mile 1 in Jln Tutong.

He gathered them in a black plastic bag and when he was leaving the flat, three men chased him after observing his suspicious behavior and apprehended Bahasa at Jln Kubah Makam Diraja, the court heard.

Bahasa, who has a number of previous convictions for theft dating as far back as the 1970's, told the court that he needed the shoes to sell them and buy food and household items in return.

In his mitigation to Chief Magistrate Dk Rostaina, he said that he needed money to support himself as he was unemployed and had no one to turn to.

In a previous case, the Magistrate told Bahasa that he should have followed his brother back to India rather than stay at the shanty in Kianggeh. (Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin)

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