A JOBLESS woman was spared a jail term on Tuesday for misappropriating a friend's debit card and buying $558 worth of items with it.

Yeo Hui Fen was instead fined $6,000. District Judge Thian Yee Sze ruled that the 28-year-old did not deliberately steal the card and had committed the offences on the spur of the moment. Yeo has since paid back the card owner, Ms Ong Si Ying, 26, in full.

The court heard that Yeo found she had the card in her wallet while shopping at Bugis Junction last Oct 25.

The court was not told how Ms Ong's debit card ended up with Yeo, but the pair had had dinner with some friends in Orchard Road the evening before Yeo's shopping spree.

At Bugis Junction the following day, Yeo paid $235 for some clothes at Southhaven boutique using Ms Ong's card.

She also bought $206 worth of clothes and $117 in cosmetics from two other shops with the card. These two offences were taken into consideration by DJ Thian during sentencing.

Ms Ong, an office manager, realised her debit card was missing only four days after that Orchard Road dinner.

Upon checking her account using her bank passbook, she discovered the three unauthorised purchases.

Yeo was arrested on Nov 12 and she admitted to the offences. She told The Straits Times she was prepared to be jailed six to eight weeks.

'I am very relieved that my lawyer Amerjeet Singh was able to convince the court to fine me instead,' she added.

In a telephone interview, Ms Ong said she was no longer friends with Yeo.

Yeo could have been jailed up to two years for misappropriating the debit card.