KUALA PILAH: A 56-year-old security guard has been sentenced to five months in jail after pleading guilty to stealing RM2,190 from a bank cash deposit machine.
Anis Abdul Aziz did not contest the charge after it was read to him before Magistrate Saiful Sayuti here on Friday (May 17).
He was charged with stealing the money at the bank's premises at 2.53pm on March 31.
The charge under Section 380 of the Penal Code carries a jail term of up to 10 years and a possible fine upon conviction.
Anis, who was unrepresented, appealed for a lighter sentence owing to his age and the fact that it was his first offence.
"I also have to provide for my wife, who suffers from schizophrenia, and child.
"If I cannot work, no one else will provide for them," he said.
Deputy public prosecutor Khairunisa Zainudin asked for punishment commensurate with the offence, saying that public interest took precedence over personal interest.
"The court also has to send a message that crime does not pay," she said.
According to the facts of the case, a 20-year-old woman went to the bank on the day in question to deposit the cash in her employer's account.
However, the transaction was not reflected in the company's bank statement when she checked it later.
She then lodged a police report.
Checks of the bank's CCTV footage showed the accused taking the cash from the machine after the transaction did not go through.