Cook jailed three years for possession of Daesh-related items

High Court judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah handed down the sentence on Mohd Firdaus Kamal Intdzam, 34, after the man, a cook with a hotel in Singapore, pleaded guilty to the charge.

He was charged with six counts of possessing items linked to the Daesh-terror group, which included two memory cards, a flag, four books and a handphone.

The offence was committed at the arrival hall of the Customs, Immigration and Quarantine Complex, Sultan Iskandar Building, Johor Bharu, at 10.40 am on Aug 5 last year.

Judge Sequerah sentenced him to three years' jail on each count to be served concurrently from the date of his arrest.

Deputy public prosecutor (DPP) Sarah Khalilah Abdul Rahman, who prosecuted DPP Rohaiza Abd Rahman, when asking for the court to impose a jail sentence, said the sentence meted out must reflect both specific and general deterrence to the community and public at large.

"Notwithstanding the mitigating reason given by the accuse that are personal in nature, the prosecution humbly submits that the court must also consider the seriousness of the offence... and especially for terrorism related offences, the court should take judicial notice of the continuing threat of the Islamic State and other such splinter extremist groups within and around the region," she added.

Mod Firdaus was unrepresented.