KOTA KINABALU: A 31-year-old man was jailed nine months and fined RM2,500, in default four months’ imprisonment, after pleading guilty to breaking into Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) premises with intent to commit cable theft.
Magistrate Marilyn Kelvin imposed the sentence on Mohd Soffrie Amiluddin on Thursday and ordered the jail term to run from the date of his arrest.
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According to the charge, Mohd Soffrie trespassed the Cooling System Building of the Faculty of Engineering at UMS at about 5.30am on Jan 31 this year, an offence under Section 448 of the Penal Code, which carries a jail term of up to three years, or a fine, or both.
The court heard that on Dec 26, 2025, three FPT chiller units and several types of cables were found cut, causing the chiller system to fail and disrupting operations, involving copper tape earthing (10 metres), 165mm cable (220 metres) and 70mm cable (5 metres), prompting a police report.
Following the report, the complainant and UMS Auxiliary Police detained Mohd Soffrie in the area with a metal cutting tool, rubber gloves and shoes, all of which were handed to police, and Inspector Yusdi Basri appeared for the prosecution.
