Dressed as a woman, a male lawyer went to John Little department store in Plaza Singapura last year and stole two eyeliners and a chocolate bar worth $17.40 in total.

Long Tian Shiun, who turned 44 on Monday, was fined $1,200 yesterday after pleading guilty last month to two shoplifting charges.

A promoter at the store was at work at around 8.30pm on Jan 1 last year when she spotted Long behaving suspiciously nearby.

The promoter noticed that he had a cardigan draped over his right hand and a handbag on his shoulder.

Long was seen taking a few items from a booth before using the cardigan to cover his hand.

The promoter made a check at the booth after Long walked away and noticed that some items were missing.

After she detained him, the two eyeliners as well as the chocolate bar were recovered from his handbag.

Police later arrested the lawyer.

Further checks uncovered a shaver worth $179 inside the handbag which Long admitted he had stolen from the Tangs department store at VivoCity shopping mall earlier that day.

Long was represented by lawyers Josephus Tan and Cory Wong from Invictus Law Corporation. In his mitigation plea, the defence lawyers told District Judge Eddy Tham that their client has been diagnosed with major depression and hoarding disorder. They also said Long is "very remorseful" for his actions.

For each count of theft, he could have been jailed for up to three years and fined.