A 43-year-old unemployed father of five has been sentenced to six months in jail for stealing RM394 worth of baby formula and groceries from a supermarket in Kelantan.
As reported by the New Straits Times, Wan Eskandar Wan Julihi pleaded guilty at the Kota Baru Magistrate’s Court to stealing 12 packets of milk formula, nine packets of Milo, soft drinks, snacks and a can opener from PKT Pasir Tumboh on October 11
What the court heard in mitigation
According to SAYS, National Legal Aid Foundation lawyer Nik Nasrun Nazmi Nik Mohamad asked for leniency on the grounds that his client was unemployed, had recently been released from prison and had five children to support.
He told the court that Wan Eskandar pays RM300 a month in rent and suffers from heart disease, high blood pressure and psoriasis and that he regretted what he had done.
Why the magistrate did not go lighter
In his grounds of judgment dated November 1, Magistrate R Vinoshen said financial hardship and family responsibilities do not automatically justify a lighter sentence.
He pointed out that Wan Eskandar was not a first-time offender, since he had a previous conviction for cheating under Section 417 of the Penal Code, and he was concerned that the accused had offended again despite having served a prison term.
A guilty plea, he explained, saves the court time and costs but does not by itself entitle an accused person to a reduced sentence. He also reminded the public that even stealing a loaf of bread is an offence punishable by imprisonment, and said earlier decisions on theft under Section 380 usually carried one to three years in jail, so the six months he imposed was already below the usual range.
To explain why necessity was not enough, he cited a verse from the Tirukkural, the ancient Tamil text, which says that even a person who sees their own mother starving should not commit a disgraceful act that would invite “condemnation from the wise”
A pattern readers have seen before
The sentence has revived a question that comes up whenever a hungry parent ends up in court. In 2017, Malay Mail reported that a man who stole formula milk worth RM502.60 for his two children was jailed for three days and fined RM1,200.
In January this year, the same outlet reported that an unemployed father of two in Kuala Terengganu was jailed for a month after taking household items worth RM113.70 on New Year’s Day. Sentences in cases like these clearly vary, and past offences, the facts of each case and the court’s own view of deterrence all appear to play a part
Lawyers have also argued before that the courts should be more sensitive to poverty when sentencing, as FMT reported in 2017 and that sentences should lead to reform rather than create new problems
The question the case leaves behind
Public reaction has focused on fairness.
Some readers writing in to Malaysiakini’s YourSay compared this case with other recent cases that carried much larger sums.
They were reacting to a different case under a different legal framework, so it is not a like-for-like comparison. The court’s reasoning is also clear, because it says repeat offending and the need for deterrence weigh heavily whatever the motive.
Even so, the case raises a question that neither side of that debate has fully answered.
When the law rightly refuses to treat hardship as an excuse, who is responsible for making sure a jobless father with five children does not reach that point in the first place?
Submit your story to ym.efillaerni@olleh and you may be featured on In Real Life Malaysia.
Read also: ‘I gave up my family to pursue my dreams’ Shares 34 YO M’sian woman – In Real Life
https://inreallife.my/i-gave-up-my-family-to-pursue-my-dreams-shares-34-yo-msian-woman/
‘I gave up my family to pursue my dreams’ Shares 34 YO M’sian woman
More from Community
“Malaysia Would Not Exist” Indonesian Actor Boy Hamzah’s Claim Sparks Backlash Among Malaysians
Indonesian actor and model Boy Hamzah has drawn criticism from Malaysians after claiming that Malaysia would not exist without Indonesia, …
“Looks Like Bahraini Dinar Prices” RM50 Nasi Goreng At F1 Sepang Divides Malaysians
Malaysia welcomed Formula One back to Sepang this October for the first time since 2017, hosting the relocated Bahrain Grand …
“Tarnished our image” says Affair Minister Zulkifli ahead of upcoming elections
On September 1, Malaysia's Religious Affairs Minister Zulkifli Hasan condemned a Malaysian contestant's participation in Miss Equality World 2026, a …
