Air stewardess fined for shoplifting spree at Paragon
TODAY file photo
SINGAPORE — When Satoko Otaka was arrested at a supermarket on Aug 4, the police found on her an odd mix of items, such as a coin pouch and a card holder from Salvatore Ferragamo, bottles of nail polish, seven boxes of strawberries, blackberries and raspberries, nearly one litre of packaged soup, pieces of undergarments in various sizes, and an orange drink from Breadtalk.
The 27-year-old air stewardess with ANA airlines was today (Nov 16) fined S$7,000 after pleading guilty to seven charges of theft. Her loot from the half-hour stealing spree at Paragon shopping centre amounted to S$2,400.
The court heard that Otaka was diagnosed with kleptomania and was suffering from “major depressive disorder” during the time of her offences.
Consultant psychiatrist Ken Ung at Adam Road Medical Centre assessed that Otaka’s shoplifting was a result of psychological factors rather than for material gain.
Pleading for leniency, defence lawyers Gary Low and Terence Tan said that Otaka’s actions were not premeditated.
“The nature and number of items taken show that she simply had no control over her actions and acted completely on impulse,” wrote the lawyers in their mitigation plea.
They noted that Otaka took many bulky items which were of no use to her. “If there was planning involved and she was keen to cover her tracks, she would not have taken so many large, unwieldy things that would have made the concealment of the theft impossible and impeded her getaway.”
Otaka’s condition on the day of her offences was exacerbated by fatigue as she had worked overnight on a flight from Japan to Singapore the day before, they added.
