SINGAPORE - A man who went on a six-month crime spree which included theft and appearing nude in public was sentenced to six years' corrective training on Thursday.

In one incident last September, Loh Tzu Chye, 35, was spotted running towards Block 333 Kreta Ayer Road at 1.45am, wearing only an orange G-string, a type of underwear which exposes the buttocks.

Under the law, appearing nude includes being dressed in a way which offends public decency or order.

The police officer who spotted Loh gave chase and grabbed hold of him.

But Loh escaped after threatening him with a knife.

On another occasion last June, Loh was walking past a unit on the fifth floor of Block 197, Bishan Street 13 when he saw a cellphone on top of a drawer next to the window facing the common corridor.

Loh pushed the sliding door open and stretched his hand into the unit to steal the iPhone 5S.

In all, Loh was convicted of four charges, with another eight taken into consideration.

One of the eight charges stated that last August, along an overhead bridge connecting New Bridge Centre to Eu Tong Sen Street, Loh pointed a knife at a 27-year-old man and shouted: "I want to rob you! Give me your clothes!"

In mitigation, Loh's lawyer Jeffrey Lau said his client, who is not in contact with his immediate family, has found faith in Christianity.

Loh, who addressed the court, asked for "one last chance to repent", and to be spared corrective training or preventive detention.

The prosecution asked for seven years' corrective training.

In February 2010, Loh was jailed for two years and given six strokes of the cane for robbing a jogger of his singlet and shorts at knifepoint, while himself clad only in a G-string. He also had prior theft convictions then.

Corrective training is a tough regime for repeat offenders with no remission for good behaviour.