Man jailed 14 months for snatch theft and fraudulent possession

An unemployed man was jailed for 14 months on Monday for snatch theft and other offences involving property of about $3,300.

David Low Fuh Shim, 48, who faced 12 charges altogether, pleaded guilty to five charges of theft, snatch theft, fraudulent possession and shop theft between October last year and February this year.

He committed four of the offences on Oct 6 when he was still under a two-year mandatory treatment order for dishonest misappropriation of property and providing false information of a terrorist act.

A district court heard that Low stole $112 worth of items from NTUC FairPrice in Bishan Street 13 on Oct 6 last year.

On Jan 30 this year, he was cycling along Petir Road in Bukit Panjang when he spotted Indonesian maid Supinah, 28, with her $350 mobile phone in hand, waiting for a lift. He grabbed her phone and fled. The maid screamed and chased Low as he ran to his bicycle which he had parked behind a staircase landing.

The domestic worker grabbed his jacket as he attempted to get on to his bicycle. During a brief struggle, Low kicked her in the lower abdomen but she continued to hold onto his bicycle. He fell and let go of the phone.

Twenty days later, he was cycling along Jelapang Road when he used his bicycle to hit the leg of an Indonesian woman, Ms Wulan Novianti, 36, before snatching her $1,000 cellphone. He sold the phone in Malaysia for about $100.

Then on Feb 25, he grabbed cashier Chen Man Miao's handbag with items totalling $358 as she was eating at the foodcourt at Block 132 Jurong Gateway Road. The 32-year-old gave chase and Low was detained some distance away with the help of two passers-by.

While he was in custody, police recovered a mobile phone, suspected to have been stolen, at his home in Segar Road during a raid.

The remaining seven charges were taken into consideration.

Low, who had paranoid schizophrenia, said he had financial difficulties and is currently on medication for his mental condition.

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