Magistrate Nur’Aminahtul Mardiah Md Nor fixed the date after counsel Mohd Khairul Azam Abdul Aziz, representing the accused Shahrul Anuar Abdul Aziz, told the court that the defence had closed the case today after hearing the testimony of four defence witnesses.

Shahrul Anuar was charged with stealing a mobile phone worth RM800 at Techasia Boutique, Low Yat Plaza, Bukit Bintang, at 4.47pm on July 11 last year.

The offence is under Section 380 of the Penal Code which carries a jail term of up to 10 years and a fine, if found guilty.

On March 18, the court ordered Shahrul Anuar, 23, to enter his defence against the theft charge after finding that the prosecution had proved a prima facie case against him.

On Feb 24, the accused was once again brought to court where he pleaded not guilty to a charge of causing hurt to a mechanic with a machete in Jalan Jelatek, here, on Feb 20.

Shahrul Anuar was also fined RM2,000 by the Magistrate’s Court here on Feb 12, this year after pleading guilty to taking syabu at the Dang Wangi police headquarters.

Earlier, Malaysia Transformer Manufacturing Sdn Bhd Human Resource Senior Manager Azrezal Mohd Azmi said Shahrul Anuar’s service as an operator at the company was terminated not due to the charge against him but because his contract had expired.

“Since his one-year service contract expired, we (the company) did not renew the contract,” said the fourth and last witness in the case.

Azrezal, 36, who has served the company for almost 13 years, said Shahrul Anuar joined the company on March 9, 2015 and his contract expired on March 8, 2016.

– BERNAMA