SINGAPORE – A man stole two cans of pork products from a supermarket and then placed them on a food delivery shelf near the main entrance of Al-Ansar Mosque in Bedok.

On April 4, food delivery rider Ian Poh, 30, was sentenced to 12 weeks’ jail after he pleaded guilty to one count each of theft and performing an act that could affect the harmony in Singapore.

The prosecution said Poh knew that the consumption of pork is forbidden for Muslims and was aware that his act would cause anger among congregants at the mosque.

Poh, who has a history of glue-sniffing as well as cough syrup and methamphetamine consumption, had been diagnosed with substance-induced psychotic disorder.

However, Deputy Public Prosecutor Cheah Wenjie noted that he was not of unsound mind at the time of the offences.

On May 15, 2023, around 9.45pm, Poh stole two cans of pork products worth $9.50 in total from a supermarket in New Upper Changi Road.

After that, he cycled to the mosque and placed both cans on the food delivery shelf.

The next day, worshippers who went to the mosque for morning prayers around 4.30am “were shocked and offended, and immediately took a picture of the two cans of pork, before throwing them into a rubbish bin nearby”, the DPP told the court.

“They raised the matter to the staff of (the mosque), and news of the discovered two cans of pork also spread amongst the congregants, who informed the staff that they were offended and insulted, and that this was an insensitive act to do at a place of Muslim worship,” DPP Cheah added.

The police were notified and officers arrested Poh on May 17, 2023.

He was later remanded at the Institute of Mental Health, and a doctor there stated in a report that Poh had psychiatric episodes in June 2021 and April 2022.

On both occasions, Poh heard voices that told him to commit suicide, among other things.

The doctor, who diagnosed him with substance-induced psychotic disorder, also found that his symptoms had contributed to his offences.