But Mohamad Azman Abdullah, 48, was caught right away and handed to the police, who took him to hospital.

At Tan Tock Seng Hospital, doctors inserted a long flexible tube down his throat and into his stomach, using instruments at the end to fish out the $2,689 sparkler.

The uncomfortable procedure, called an endoscopy, is usually done without anaesthesia.

In court yesterday, Azman pleaded guilty to the theft and was jailed 11/2 years.

What he did not know on the day he went to the Taka Jewellery kiosk at the Midpoint Orchard shopping centre last October was that the staff were watching him closely. A month before, they had found several rings missing after he had stopped by.

Shown a tray of rings, Azman ran his hands over it, hooked a ring with a finger and popped it into his mouth. A retail supervisor called the police, and he was sent to hospital.

Azman, who has previous convictions for theft and drug consumption, represented himself in court. Appealing for leniency, he said: 'At my age, a long imprisonment term will turn me into a confirmed jinx, a confirmed loser for the rest of my life.'

Unmoved, District Judge Sarjit Singh sent him to jail. He could have been jailed up to seven years.

A gastroenterologist at Raffles Hospital told The Straits Times that if the ring had entered Azman's intestine, he might have needed surgery.

As for the ring, the judge ordered it returned to Taka Jewellery.

khush@sph.com.sg