Jail for twins who stole after gatecrashing wedding banquet
SINGAPORE — A pair of 30-year-old twin sisters who gatecrashed a wedding banquet and stole a luggage while queuing up to give their blessings to the newlyweds were sentenced to jail on Thursday (July 5).
Tiffany Kang Pei Yi, who stole the piece of luggage from a groomsman claiming she was carrying out the bride's instructions, was given 10 days' jail.
Tiziana Kang Pei Ying, who stole three handbags and a wallet from a Guess store earlier the same day with her twin, was given five days' jail.
The court on Thursday heard that the twins, who were adopted as children, had a tumultuous relationship with their foster mother after their primary caregiver, their aunt, died of cancer. One year later, they were diagnosed with a mental illness, which was not specified in court.
Arguing for either a probation or a one-day jail term for his clients, who have no criminal history, defence lawyer Anand Nalachandran they had committed their offences at an "impulsive spur of the moment".
Their petty theft spree on Nov 19 last year had taken place in a matter of hours after they left home in a disturbed state, following a family argument, he said.
Court documents stated that the twins first stole from the Guess store on the ground floor of Bugis Junction at about 2pm. After taking two minutes to "open and close" multiple bags and purses as they browsed the shelves at the store, they walked out with a pink handbag, a black handbag, and another silver and white handbag priced at S$189, S$199 and S$179 respectively. They also took a wallet that cost S$75.
Then at 6.30pm, despite not being acquainted with the bride, groom, or any of the wedding guests, they gatecrashed the wedding banquet of Mr Jamie Chew Jie Min, 30, and Ms Tan Hui Yan, 26, held at Shin Yeh Restaurant on the second floor of Liang Court.
Three hours later, while they were in the queue to give their blessings to the couple at the close of the dinner banquet, Tiffany saw one of the groomsman standing by a table, which had a pink luggage stowed under it. She told him the bride or a relative had instructed her to collect the luggage.
Without thinking anything was amiss, 31-year-old Alvin Koo Jing You passed it to Tiffany.
The twins then left the restaurant with the bride's luggage, which contained miscellaneous items such as two mugs, three wooden photo frames, a box of coloured pens, a roll of film, a bouquet of plastic flowers.
The couple found out about the intruders only when Mr Koo told them he had passed the luggage to their "friend" Tiffany.
At around 11pm, the bride's friends stopped the twins, as they were about to board a taxi at Liang Court with the luggage. When the couple later came down to verify the stolen luggage, Tiffany claimed she had assumed it was a lost item. Then she tried to leave, but was stopped by the groom.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Rachel Tan argued that a probation is not appropriate as it is an "exception rather than the norm" in cases involving adults. She added there were "no exceptional circumstances that warrants probation", noting that the twins' mental illness did not contribute to the offence.
In fact, "Tiffany's (Institute of Mental Health) report stated that she was feeling better before the incident", DPP Tan added.
Agreeing with the prosecution, District Judge Eddy Tham said probation is not appropriate for the twins as they "should have known better" as adults.
For cheating, Tiffany could have been jailed up to 10 years and fined. For theft, the twins could have been jailed for up to seven years and fined.
