THE three heartlanders who stole from supermarkets all had no jobs, no food and two children each to support.

All three also have previous convictions for similar offences. They were jailed between 10 weeks and eight months on Friday.

Nurhayati Said, 30, was given 17 weeks' jail for stealing about $26 worth of food items from Cold Storage, Causeway Point Shopping Centre, in Woodlands Square on Dec 31.

She stole three packets of chicken items, garlic bread sprinkle and garlic spread, mangoes and sweet corn.

She said she had been retrenched from a factory and had no food to eat.

Community Court judge Soh Tze Bian said she should go to agencies for help, adding that stealing was no excuse and a serious offence.

In the same court, Abdol Wahab Abdul Rahman, 46, was jailed 10 weeks for stealing two packets of chocolate and four packs of six-can Guinness stout totalling $97 from NTUC FairPrice at Taman Jurong Shopping Centre at Yung Sheng Road.

Another man, Abdulrasid Abdul Rahim, 39, was jailed for eight months for theft of six packs of Guinness stout worth $131 from Shop N Save at West Mall Shopping Centre in Bukit Batok Central Link.

Each of them could have been jailed for up to seven years and fined for shoplifting.