An Australian man was found guilty in Denpasar District Court on Tuesday, of stealing a pair of designer sunglasses from a duty free shop at the international terminal of Bali’s Ngurah Rai Airport.
Sentenced to three months for walking off the with Gucci shades, Perth man Thomas William Harman is now set for release. Luckily for the Aussie, the three months he’s been locked up in Bali’s Kerobokan Prison since his arrest in on June 30 count towards his sentence time.
The 31-year-old’s lawyer, Erwin Siregar did not deny his client’s guilt, but instead emphasized Harman’s claims that the shoplifting incident was a “mistake,” that he only left with the sunglasses because it was an unconscious, nervous reaction about flying.
Harman appeared remorseful before the court and apologized for his actions, plus he did not have a prior record, so Siregar had said prior to sentencing that he was “optimistic” about the case’s outcome.
Prosecutors had demanded that Harman get six months in jail for the sunglasses valued at just over IDR4 million (US$296), a display of leniency as Harman’s charges carried a maximum penalty of five years, but it turns out judges thought he deserved even more leniency.
