A brawl over a bid to lay their hands on new Adidas trainers.
An unemployed man claimed trial at a magistrate’s court in Kuala Lumpur to punching a marketing assistant in front of the KLCC Adidas boutique at about 6am on Nov 11.
Mohammad Fikry Mamot, 29, pleaded not guilty to voluntarily causing grievous hurt by punching Faiz Hari Nurhuda, 22.
Clad in a blue shirt and sweater, the father of three appeared calm when the charge was read to him before Magistrate Mahyuddin Mohmed Som.
He was charged under Section 325 of the Penal Code and faces a maximum seven years’ imprisonment and fine, if convicted.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Nur Farah Adilah Noordin asked the court to set bail at RM10,000 with one surety for the accused.
The accused was unrepresented. His cousin, however, stepped up as bailor.
The cousin told the court that Mohammad Fikry was jobless and has three children.The magistrate set bail at RM4,000 with one surety and fixed Dec 26 for mention.
Prior to the incident, Adidas fans had camped overnight at the brand’s KLCC outlet to ensure they stood the chance of purchasing a new special edition sneaker that was to be released in a limited quantity.
The pack was sold on a first-come, first-served basis, with a retail price of RM1,150 for a pair.
The footwear store in KLCC was one of the few to release the shoes.
But the fight broke out before the shoes were made available to consumers that morning.
The incident is believed to have occurred when the victim told the accused not to jump the queue.
However, the accused insisted that there was a list and he was queuing up according to the list.
The victim and others explained to him that Adidas had always practised the first-come-first-serve policy for limited releases.
A 50-second video which went viral showed an argument between the accused and the victim that led to a scuffle.
The suspect, who was wearing a cap, could be seen getting agitated and punching the victim in the face.
Police arrested the accused at his home in Batu Caves on Nov 14.
“The suspect admitted to jumping the queue and punching the man in the face,” Dang Wangi district police chief ACP Shaharudin Abdullah said.
According to The Sun, a source alleged that the suspect has previous criminal convictions under Section 380 of the Penal Code for theft.