SINGAPORE: After he lost his job and his mother had to stop working as a Grab driver due to an accident, a man decided to steal sport items from Decathlon.
Though he was under a driving ban, 27-year-old Lee Kia Seng drove his mother’s car to a Decathlon outlet, where he stole a S$700 kayak. He later sold it on Carousell.
Lee also stole other sports equipment from Decathlon outlets and tried to sell them online but was unsuccessful.
He was sentenced on Thursday (Oct 20) to seven weeks’ jail and banned from driving for two years.
He pleaded guilty to two counts of theft and a charge each for driving without a licence and insurance. Another four charges were taken into consideration.
The court heard that Lee lost his job in early December 2021. He wanted to earn money quickly, so he decided to steal items and sell them for cash.
He decided to steal from three Decathlon outlets in Singapore as he knew the company has the largest sports store in Singapore, and he liked sports, the prosecutor said.
Between December 2021 and January 2022 he stole several items from Decathlon outlets worth S$715, including a saddle bag, a bike tool box and an 11ft paddle board.
On Jan 15 this year, Lee drove his mother’s car to a Decathlon outlet at Stadium Boulevard, even though he was banned from driving.
He walked into the store and picked up an X100 three-seater blue kayak valued at S$700. He carried it like a backpack, tore off the RFID tracking tag and walked out with it.
He then placed it in the boot of the car and drove off. He later sold it on Carousell for S$500. To date, the kayak has not been recovered.
Decathlon lodged a police report that day about a kayak that was suspected to be stolen, and Lee was identified through police investigations.
When he went down to the police station for investigations, he brought all the other items he had stolen but could not sell off with him and surrendered them to the police.
The prosecutor asked for four to six weeks’ jail for the kayak theft and three to four weeks’ jail for the theft of the other items. She acknowledged that Lee has made late restitution to Decathlon for the kayak.
She said this was not a one-off offence as Lee looked up three different Decathlon outlets to steal from and had tried to sell the other stolen items but was unsuccessful.
Lawyer James Ow Yong said that the restitution was not at the last hour, but that an offer for restitution had been made earlier, just that the investigating officer did not respond.
He asked for a total of not more than a week’s jail, a fine, and 15 months’ driving ban.
DIRE FINANCIAL STRAITS: DEFENCE
He said his client’s family had fallen into dire financial straits at the time as Lee lost his job. His mother who was working as a Grab driver was in an accident and could not work for a period of time, he said.
Since then, Lee has taken on two concurrent jobs as a dishwasher to make ends meet, and that was also how he saved up money to repay Decathlon for the kayak, said Mr Ow Yong.
“In essence, he is taking full responsibility for his actions. His conduct resembles that of someone having committed offences in a moment of folly, thereafter realising his mistakes and owning up for it,” said the lawyer.
He added that Lee’s modus operandi was “simple, rudimentary and haphazard at best”. The prosecutor had said Lee targeted three Decathlon outlets, but Mr Ow Yong said he did so simply because he likes sports.
“This points to the simple thinking of the accused,” said the lawyer. “The items taken were of a variety in value – it’s not the case that he targeted high-value items for the purpose of stealing. In his simple mindset, he was taking things he liked and tried to sell them subsequently.”
At the point of surrender, the police had detected only the theft of the kayak, but Lee brought with him all the other stolen items, said Mr Ow Yong.
In response, the prosecutor said she did not agree the offences were committed in “a moment of folly”. She pointed to the charges taken into consideration, where some laptops were stolen.
In sentencing, the judge said driving without a licence was a serious offence adding that he recently released a set of grounds of decision for such offences.