RM34,800 damage: Duo charged with setting fire to restaurant using firecrackers in George Town

A man and a woman pleaded not guilty in the Sessions Court here today to a charge of committing mischief by setting fire to a restaurant last week.

Coffee shop assistant Khoo Teng Chi, 32, and Joanne Lim, 37, made the plea after the charge was read out in Mandarin before Judge Irwan Suainbon. 

They were jointly charged with committing the offence by setting fire, with the use of firecrackers and throwing them, at the premises of Jing Zhang Restaurant & Bar owned by a woman, causing damage amounting to RM34,800.

Khoo and Lim were charged with committing the offence at No. 10, Jalan Pahang here, at 5.19 am on July 23 this year.

They were charged under Section 435 of the Penal Code, read together with Section 34 of the same law, which provides for a jail term of up to 14 years and a fine upon conviction.

The court allowed them bail of RM8,000 with one surety each and also ordered them to report to a police station once a month, as well as not to intimidate witnesses.

Deputy public prosecutor Lee Jun Keong appeared for the prosecution while Khoo and Lim, who help out at her mother’s food shop, were represented by lawyer Muhammad Zulzarif Mohd Zakwan.