Bandar Seri Begawan - A local man, 29, yesterday admitted to instigating a seven-year-old boy to commit theft.

Senior Magistrate, Pg Masni Pg Hj Bahar, adjourned the sentencing to Thursday so that the facts of the case can be taken into consideration.

The defendant, Mohammad Saiful Rizal bin Hj Ismail, was at the Hassanal Bolkiah Swimming Pool on the afternoon of October 2, 2012, when he noticed a backpack left unattended on a bench at the swimming pool common area. It was then that he persuaded the young boy to take the back pack and bring it to the car park, where the defendant took from him before leaving.

The defendant took from the backpack two mobile phones, an iPod Touch, B$66 and RM$100. The defendant sold off the mobile phones and iPod Touch to different people, and received a total of B$150.

Upon the owner's realisation that her backpack was missing, she reported it to the management.

After re-entering the swimming pool area, the seven-year-old boy told his father what had transpired. The boy's father informed the management of the swimming pool of what had transpired and how his son had taken part in the theft. The management instantly contacted the original owner of the backpack to inform her of the development.

Both the backpack owner and the seven-year-old boy's father lodged a joint police report, which led to the defendant's arrest.

All the items in the backpack, including clothes, headscarves; towels and a wallet were recovered, but not the items the defendant sold off.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Sharon Yeo prosecuted the case.