Kulhudhuffushi man imprisoned for threatening to kill brother over money

A man from Kulhudhuffushi City has been sentenced to three months in prison for threatening to kill his brother unless he gives him money.

The incident in question took place on the afternoon of July 1 at the Dhiraagu Operations Center in Kulhudhuffushi where the man’s older brother was on duty. The man went there demanding money from his brother. But he grew angry when his brother said he didn’t have any money. He accused his brother of lying, and threatened to kill him if he did not give him money.

The police were called to the scene.

But he continued to threaten to kill his brother even in the presence of police, and approached his brother and one of his colleagues in a menacing manner.

The state charged him with criminal intimidation.

He pled guilty to the charge during pretrial proceedings at the Kulhudhuffushi Magistrate Court.

The court determined that he made the confession free from any coercion, and found him guilty of the charge.

Criminal intimidation is a Class 1 felony that carries a minimum sentence of four months and 24 days in prison. The court raised the sentencing requirement by one level in light of a prior felony conviction the last six years, and then dropped it by one level in light of his guilty plea.

The judge also used his prerogative to drop the sentencing requirement by another level based on the appeal by the man’s brother, who told investigators he wished to drop the case, and also pled for leniency in sentencing during court proceedings.

With these adjustments, the court on Monday sentenced him to three months and 18 days in prison. However, the court took the 16 days he spent in detention into account, leaving him with three months and three days left to serve.

The Kulhudhuffushi man had asked the court to convert his prison sentence into a fine. However, the court denied the request citing failure to provide proof of financial means to pay a fine. The court also ruled out converting the prison sentence to home confinement, citing a history of domestic violence.