From green thumb to sticky fingers: gardener turned thief’s mastermind pleads guilty

MANJUNG: A 24-year-old gardener, leader of a gang of thieves, pleaded guilty to 11 counts of theft, mischief and trespass in the magistrate’s court here.

A. Dinesh Kumar of Gang Dinesh made the plea after the charges were read out to him before Magistrate Fakhrul Razzi Abd Hamid here on Wednesday (October 16).

Dinesh Kumar was charged with four counts of theft under section 379 of the Penal Code, one charge under section 427 and six charges under section 447 of the same code for mischief and trespass respectively.

He was ordered to pay a fine of RM22,500 for all charges, failing which he will be sentenced to three to 12 months in prison.

According to the charges, the accused committed the offenses between August 24 and September 27 in Sitiawan here.

The offenses included breaking into several homes, stealing certain items and breaking a car mirror.

Two of his acquaintances, MS Venuseran, 39, and A. Subhatara, 36, claimed their trial on a joint charge under Section 414 of the Penal Code for intentionally helping to dispose of stolen property on August 26.

They were released on bail at RM2,500 each.

Subahatara also pleaded guilty to another charge under Section 414 of the Penal Code for keeping a stolen mobile phone on September 4.

She was sentenced to eight months in prison from the date of her arrest on September 27.

Prosecutor Inspector Nurjihan Jaya initiated the prosecution, while the accused were represented by lawyer Nur Shaqira Ibrahim of the National Legal Aid Foundation.

Last week, state police chief Commissioner Datuk Azizi Mat Aris said two men and a woman were arrested on September 27 over alleged theft cases in Manjung.