KUCHING: The Magistrate’s Court here has placed a 24-year-old man on a six-month peace bond for impersonating a medical assistant at Sarawak General Hospital (SGH).
Richard Layau Jolin from Serian, committed the act to fulfil his family’s aspirations of seeing their son become a medical assistant, despite him failing to complete his studies at a university.
Magistrate Syarifah Fatimah Azura Wan Ali meted out the order after he pleaded guilty to a charge framed under Section 67 of the Criminal Procedure Code.
The six-month peace bond serves as a preventive measure to avoid recurrence.
Based on the case facts, around 9 am on Feb 28 this year, a medical assistant (complainant), who was supervising in the hospital area, encountered an unfamiliar man wearing old uniform attire suspiciously.
The complainant and his colleague then approached Richard about wearing the old uniform and his duty unit but, his reply was suspicious.
Later, the complainant checked with the hospital administration and found that Richard was not a hospital staff member.
On Mar 4, the complainant apprehended Richard near a hotel around 9.30am and handed him over to the security personnel to file a police report for further action.
Investigations revealed that the offender acted in such a manner due to pressure and demands from his family, who desired to see him work as a medical assistant.
Additionally, Richard felt overshadowed by his brother who worked in the civil service whom he was often compared to.
Further investigation found that Richard had been impersonating a medical assistant since early December last year, where he would roam outside the hospital every morning with intention of guiding the public, who came to the hospital for treatment.
Although only serving as a guide, he did not enter restricted areas of the hospital. Meanwhile, in the afternoon, he would work as an e-hailing driver.
During the investigation, he admitted purchasing the uniform for RM80 online.
Deputy public prosecutor ASP Arman Ibrahim prosecuted the case while, Richard was not represented by a counsel.
