A labourer was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment by the Butterworth magistrates’ court after pleading guilty to kidnapping a five-year-old autistic child last month.
He was also ordered to serve an additional year in jail after pleading guilty to stealing a car.
Utusan Malaysia reported that magistrate Aini Adilah Faizal ordered Jasri Ismail, 36, to serve the sentences from the date of his arrest on March 31.
Jasri was accused of kidnapping Hadif Mone Nazrul from the care of his father Nazrul Nor, 42, at the parking area of Kampung Banggol Pokok Sena Mosque in Kepala Batas at 8.20pm on March 30.
Jasri had driven off with the boy in Nazrul’s car, a grey Honda BR-V.
He was charged with kidnapping under Section 363 of the Penal Code, which provides for up to seven years’ imprisonment and a fine if convicted.
His lawyer from the National Legal Aid Foundation requested the minimum prison sentence, saying Jasri was earning RM1,800 a month as a labourer and was supporting his 75-year-old mother.
However, deputy public prosecutor Siti Marissa Safina Saiful Adli pressed for a deterrent sentence due to the severity of the offence.
She also said Jasri had hurt the boy as there were injury marks on his body.
“This happened on the eve of Hari Raya Aidilfitri when the child was supposed to be spending time with his family.
“The boy was also slightly injured in the incident. As such, we ask for an appropriate sentence,” she told the court.
