He will begin serving the sentence immediately.

Lee Ser Key, who was on RM30,000 bail pending his final appeal, however, was lucky that the Court of Appeal reduced the jail term from the initial five years. The bench also reduced the whipping from four to one stroke of the rotan.

Judge Ahmad Nasfy Yasin, who delivered the oral grounds, said the court could not allow the appeal as credibility of the mini market assistant who gave evidence remained intact.

“The prosecution also managed to prove its case through other witnesses while the closed-circuit television footage would act as corroborative evidence,” he said.

Judges Kamaludin Md Said and Abu Bakar Jais were the other judges who heard the appeal.

However, the bench reduced the sentence imposed by the sessions court in 2018.

The 41-year-old was armed with a parang when he committed the offence at the mini market in Taman Cahaya Kota Puri in Masai, Johor at about 2.15pm on Sept 9, 2016.

The facts of the case revealed that Lee entered the shop and told the assistant manning the counter “not to interfere”.

He then carted the cylinders away to a vehicle parked outside the shop before driving away.

Lawyer Lim Chi Chau, who appeared for Lee, said he took away the cylinders as the proprietor owed his client about RM1,500.

“He was angry with the shop owner. He did not take cash, cigarettes and liquor bottles from the outlet,” Lim said, adding that the cylinders were only worth RM350.

Lim, who was assisted by Ng Li Kian, said Lee did not injure or threaten the shop assistant with the parang. He also said the CCTV footage did not clearly show Lee to be armed with a parang.

Deputy public prosecutor Mohd Zain Ibrahim urged the court to confirm the trial judge’s conviction and sentence that was affirmed by the High Court.