Man jailed 1 year for snatch theft of 72-year-old coffee shop assistant’s gold necklace
While riding home on his motorcycle, Ruben Supramaniam saw from afar that a man at a coffee shop was wearing a gold necklace around his neck and decided to steal it.
SINGAPORE — A 28-year-old man was jailed for a year on Tuesday (Sept 14) for stealing a 72-year-old coffee shop assistant’s gold necklace earlier this year.
Ruben Supramaniam pleaded guilty to one charge of snatch theft and was given the minimum jail term for the offence. He has been remanded since shortly after he struck on July 30.
The Malaysian was a work permit holder and worked in a hotel kitchen at the time, the court heard.
His victim, Mr Ngoh Teck King, helped out at the drinks stall at Kimly Coffeeshop located at Block 1 Upper Aljunied Lane. He worked the night shift from 10.30pm to 7am.
At about 3am, Ruben was riding home on his motorcycle when he noticed Mr Ngoh sitting alone there. He saw from afar that Mr Ngoh wore a gold necklace around his neck and decided to steal it.
He first rode back home at a nearby Housing and Development Board flat. He retrieved two black T-shirts and hid them underneath his white shirt in the elevator, knowing there were police cameras there.
He then walked over to the coffee shop, wrapping one of the black T-shirts around his head to conceal his face.
He put the second black T-shirt over his white one, intending to discard it afterwards to further conceal his identity and evade capture, the court heard.
Ruben got to the coffee shop at about 3.40am while Mr Ngoh was making coffee for a customer. Ruben then snuck into the drinks stall, grabbed Mr Ngoh’s gold necklace from the back and pulled hard.
The force he used caused the necklace chain to break.
Ruben then ran towards the back of a nearby neighbourhood police centre, taking off the black T-shirts he was wearing and discarding them.
Mr Ngoh called the police to report the theft. He did not suffer any injuries.
Ruben handed the gold necklace to his friend, who pawned it at a pawn shop at Marsiling MRT Station for S$1,000.
This sum and the necklace, which was worth about S$2,500, were later recovered.
The police previously said that officers from Tanglin Police Division had established Ruben’s identity through ground enquiries and with the help of images from closed-circuit television and police cameras.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Bryan Joel Lim sought the sentence imposed, saying Ruben had readily confessed to his crime and “provided substantial details”, leading police officers to where he had discarded the black T-shirts.
For snatch theft, he could have been jailed for between one and seven years, and caned.
