Magistrate Tengku Shahrizam Tuan Lah set Mat Udin Berahim free without calling for his defence, after finding that the prosecution had failed to prove that he stole the fruit from Kesedar.

He said the prosecution had also failed to match the allegedly stolen fruit with those from trees on Kesedar’s land to establish possession of stolen items.

“The investigating team should have sent some of the fruit for DNA testing to confirm that they were harvested from the trees located within the Kesedar area,” he said in a 17-page judgment posted on the judiciary’s website yesterday.

Tengku Shahrizam delivered his oral ruling on Oct 16.

It is unclear whether the prosecution had filed an appeal to the High Court.

At the trial, the accused, represented by Ridzuan Muhamad, claimed that he had harvested the fruits from his smallholding.

According to the facts of the case, Kesedar had appointed SM Maju Jaya Resources Sdn Bhd to harvest the fruits from the area.

A representative of the company, Arazaiamer Zainuddin, testified that he had encountered the accused driving a lorry loaded with fruits.

A Kesedar officer who arrived at the scene later told the accused that he was not authorised to harvest the fruit.

Mat Udin was charged on Aug 23, 2020, after the company lodged a police report alleging theft.

In his grounds of judgment, the magistrate noted that no witness gave eyewitness testimony of the theft alleged to have been committed by the accused.

“The fact that the lorry was laden with the oil palm fruit cannot prove that the accused harvested them from the trees located in the area owned by Kesedar,” Tengku Shahrizam said.

He said the prosecution thus failed to prove the impugned act of harvesting the fruits from within the area under Kesedar’s control.

Deputy public prosecutor Ahmad Faiz Fitri Mohamad appeared for the prosecution.