Judge chides senior citizen who went off medication that controls her urges to steal
The court heard that the 65-year-old decided to go off her medication that controlled her urges to steal, and quickly returned to her bad old habits.
SINGAPORE – A 65-year-old woman with a history of committing theft was under medication to help her deal with her urges to steal.
But one day she decided to forego her medication, relapsed into her bad habits and stole S$400 from a 72-year-old woman at Teck Whye Shopping Centre.
Ong Siew York, 65, pleaded guilty to one count of theft on Friday (June 28) in the State Courts. The exact nature of her medical condition was not disclosed.
State Prosecuting Officer Mariyappan Munusamy told the court that Ong was looking for a pair of slippers at the shopping centre on the morning of April 28 when she spotted the older woman, Madam Tan Geot Tee, at a shoe stall.
She noticed that Mdm Tan had her wallet inside a bag which was left unzipped, so she crept up on Mdm Tan and stealthily fished it out without her knowing.
With her loot in hand, Ong found herself a corner where she could empty the wallet of its cash.
In order to avoid detection, she returned to the place where she had stolen the wallet from Mdm Tan and dropped it on the ground.
Before leaving, she informed the stall’s owner of the unattended wallet lying on the floor.
Mdm Tan realised that her wallet was missing from her bag only when the stall owner started asking around if anyone was missing it.
When she discovered that her money had been taken out, Mdm Tan noticed the stall’s CCTV cameras and asked to look at the footage to see who had stolen her money. The owner agreed.
After reviewing the footage, Mdm Tan approached her residential neighbour, who happened to be nearby, to call the police.
Ong was eventually arrested on the evening of May 3.
‘I’M ASHAMED OF WHAT I HAVE DONE’
Ong’s probation officer, who was present in court, said that the senior citizen did not take her medication, which had led to the offence.
TODAY understands she was on probation for a similar case of theft, and that she was involved in a series of similar cases that stretch back to 1986.
When District Judge May Mesenas asked her why she did not take her medication, Ong replied through a Mandarin translator: “I’m trying to see if I can control my urges without taking the medication.”
“You are not the doctor are you madam? Neither of us are, and you don’t take yourself off the medication unless the doctor tells you to,” the judge retorted.
Ong was unrepresented and her family was also not in court; she said that she did not wish to inform them as they were already angry with her. Ong did not state why her family was upset.
The judge said that Ong should involve her family. “Madam is 65 years old. Will this carry on indefinitely? We need to stop this once and for all. Maybe your family should be here. They need to remind you that you can’t do this.”
Ong said that she wants to make full restitution to Mdm Tan. “I am very ashamed of what I have done,” she said.
District Judge Mesenas called for a probation report and Ong, who is out on bail of S$5,000, is set to return to court on July 18.
