KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 7 — An Englishman who broke his quarantine order to visit a bank in Bangsar three months ago here was sentenced to two days in jail and fined RM5,000 by the Magistrate’s Court here today.

Magistrate Mohammad Aizat Abdul Rahim meted out the sentence on John Alan Forsyrh, 64, after he pleaded guilty to the charge.

The court also ordered Forsyrh, an engineer, to be jailed another two months if he failed to pay the fine.

Forsyrh was accused of disobeying an order under Section 15 (1) of the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases Act 1988 and violating Section 22(b) of the same act on at 1.50pm on July 20.

He was charged under Section 24 (a) of the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases Act 1988 (Act 342), that provides for a maximum jail term of two years, a fine, or both.

Earlier, Forsyrh’s lawyer Muhammad Syafiq Salleh pleaded for his client to be spared imprisonment on the grounds that he had cooperated with the authorities while being in custody. 

"The accused has served for more than 20 years in Malaysia and is now aged and lives alone here while his family is in England,” he said.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Abdul Khaliq Nazeri, however, urged the court to impose a sentence that reflected the severity of the offence.

"The prosecution requests for an appropriate punishment as a lesson not only to the accused but for the public at large to adhere to the quarantine order,” he said. — Bernama