Public Prosecutor v Seet Soon Heng

JudgeWong Peck
Judgment Date28 June 2012
Neutral Citation[2012] SGDC 235
Citation[2012] SGDC 235
Docket NumberDAC 7516 of 2012, Magistrate’s Appeal No. 141/2012/01
Published date11 July 2012
Hearing Date19 June 2012,29 May 2012
Plaintiff CounselDSP Lim Siew Choo and Inspector Ramasamy
Defendant CounselThe Accused in person
CourtDistrict Court (Singapore)
District Judge Wong Peck:

The accused, who is a 38 years old male, pleaded guilty to one charge of committing theft in dwelling on 26th February 2012 at about 11.02pm of cash amounting to SGD $5,611 that was in the possession of the branch manager of “Manhattan Fish Market” located at 201 Victoria Street #04-00 Iluma Shopping Centre, Singapore which was an offence under section 380 of the Penal Code Cap 224.

On 22 June 2012, being dissatisfied, the accused appealed against his sentence of 9 years’ preventive detention which I had imposed on him.

Summary of facts

The facts in support of the charges are set out in the Statement of Facts which was admitted without qualification by the accused.

On 26th February 2012 at about 10.45pm, the branch manager of Manhattan Fish Market (“the complainant”) that was located at Iluma Shopping Centre (“ the restaurant”) had closed the restaurant after he had armed the alarm system within the restaurant. The next day at about 10.10am, the complainant was informed by his staff that cash was missing. Upon arrival at the restaurant, the complainant discovered cash amounting to SGD $ 5,611 was missing from the safe which was placed inside the cabinet under the cash register. The complainant then decided to report the theft to the police on the same day at 3.21pm.

Investigations further revealed that on 26th February 2012 at about 11.02pm, the accused with the intention of committing theft had entered the restaurant after closing hours. The accused then proceeded to disarm the motion sensor alarm. Then he walked towards the staff working cabinet and took the key for the safe. He used the key to open the safe and removed cash amounting to SGD $5,611. Then he returned the key to its original position and left the restaurant together with the money.

On 1 March 2012 at about 5.30pm, the accused was placed under arrest. Cash amounting to only SGD $1,692 which was part of the stolen loot was recovered. The accused had already spent the remaining SGD $3,919. The accused admitted to the offence and was then charged.

Antecedents

The accused’s long list of antecedents is as follows:

Date Offence Sentence
13/7/1994 Section 380 of the Penal Code for theft in dwelling 8 months’ imprisonment
Section 480 of the Penal Code for Criminal Breach of Trust as a servant 5 months’ imprisonment
Section 454 of the Penal Code for housebreaking and theft by day 1 year and 6 months’ imprisonment
Section 420 of the Penal Code for cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property 1 month’s imprisonment
Section 419 of the Penal Code for cheating by personation 3 months’ imprisonment
Section 419 of the Penal Code for cheating by personation 3 months’ imprisonment
Section 379 of the Penal Code for theft 2 weeks’ imprisonment
Section 25(1) of the Police Force Act for desertion 3 months’ imprisonment
Section 457 of the Penal Code for housebreaking and theft by night 24 months’ imprisonment
Section 419 of the Penal Code for cheating by personation 3 months’ imprisonment
Section 457 of the Penal Code for housebreaking and theft by night 2 years and 6 months’ imprisonment
Section 420 of the Penal Code for cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property 1 month’s imprisonment
Section 420 of the Penal Code for cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property 1 month’s imprisonment
Section 420 of the Penal Code for cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property 1 month’s imprisonment
Section 420 of the Penal Code for cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property 1 month’s imprisonment
Remaining charges that were taken into consideration were 37 counts of Section 420 of the Penal Code, 1 count of Section 379 of the Penal Code, 2 counts of Section 419 of the Penal Code and 1 count of Section 457 of the Penal Code.
Global sentence meted out on 13/7/1994: 4 years and 3 months’ imprisonment.
5/1/1999 Section 381 of the Penal Code for theft as a servant 18 months’ imprisonment
Section 13(1)(e) of National Registration Act for unlawful possession of another person’s identity card 6 months’ imprisonment
Section 381 of the Penal Code for theft as a servant 18 months’ imprisonment
Section 13(1)(e) of National Registration Act for unlawful possession of another person’s identity card 6 months’ imprisonment
Remaining 3 counts of Section 13 (1)(e) of the National Registration Act were taken into consideration.
Global sentence meted out on 5/1/2009: 42 months’ imprisonment
24/7/1999 Section 420 of the Penal Code for cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property 9 months’ imprisonment
Section 420 of the Penal Code for cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property 6 months’ imprisonment
Section 420 of the Penal Code for cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property 6 months’ imprisonment
Remaining 4 counts of Section 420 of the Penal Code were taken into consideration
Global sentence meted out on 24/7/1999: 15 months’ imprisonment
13/3/2003 Section 457 read with section 458A of the Penal Code for housebreaking and theft by night Corrective training of 7 years and 6 strokes of the cane
Section 454 read with section 458A of the Penal Code for housebreaking by day Corrective training of 7 years and 6 strokes of the cane
Section 454 read with section 458A of the Penal Code for housebreaking by day Corrective training of 7 years and 6 strokes of the cane
Section 454 read with section 458A of the Penal Code for housebreaking by day Corrective training of 7 years and 6 strokes of the cane
Section 454 read with section 458A of the Penal Code for housebreaking by day Corrective training of 7 years and 6 strokes of the cane
Section 379 of the Penal Code for theft Corrective training of 7 years
Section 379 of the Penal Code for theft Corrective training of 7 years
Section 420 of the Penal Code for cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property Corrective training of 7 years
Section 420 of the Penal Code for cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property Corrective training of 7 years
Section 420 of the Penal Code for cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property Corrective training of 7 years
Section 35 of the Road Traffic Act for driving or permitting to drive without valid driving licence Corrective training of 7 years
Section 3 (1) of the Motor Vehicles (Third-Party Risks and Compensation) Act for failure to insure against third-party risks Corrective training of 7 years and disqualification from holding or obtaining a driving licence for all classes of vehicles for 36 months
Section 468 of the Penal Code for forgery for purpose of cheating Corrective training of 7 years
Remaining 3 counts of section 454 read with section 458A of the Penal Code, 1 count of section 457 read with section 458A of the Penal Code, 1 count of section 35(1) of the Miscellaneous Offences (Public Order and Nuisance) Act, 4 counts of Section 417 of the Penal Code, 1 count of section 420 of the Penal Code, 2 counts of section 380 of the Penal Code, 2 counts of section 379 of the Penal Code, 1 count of section 35 of the Road Traffic Act and 1 count of section 3(1) of the
...

To continue reading

Request your trial

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT