A journalist was today fined RM1,200 by the Magistrates’ Court in Bukit Mertajam for making a false police report that he had been robbed by two men on a motorcycle on May 2.

Magistrate Dianne Ningrad Nor Azahar meted the sentence on Fong Kee Soo, 37, after the man admitted to giving false written information at the Perai police station at 9.14pm on May 2.

Fong paid the fine.

The journalist, who is a bachelor, was charged under Section 182 of the Penal Code which provides for a maximum jail term of six months or a maximum fine of RM2,000 or both.

Earlier, Fong who was represented by counsel K Kumarathiraviam appealed for a fine as it was his first offence and it only involved a police report which did not cause any injury or inconvenience to anybody.

Deputy public prosecutor Nazratul Natrah Mohd Yusuf sought an appropriate punishment as a lesson to the accused for wasting the investigation officer’s time in probing a non-existent case.

Based on the facts of the case, Fong was charged with making a police report that he had been robbed by two men riding a motorcycle, who kicked his bike from the back, before they seized his backpack and escaped into an industrial area towards Jalan Chain Ferry, Perai at 8.30pm on May 2.

However, a police investigation found the accused had made a false police due to financial problems.

-- Bernama