Serial thief jailed 9 weeks for stealing 34 sets of newspapers, slipping them into his pants

SINGAPORE — Over three months, a man kept stealing newspapers from a 7-Eleven outlet, stuffing them into his pants and covering them with his shirt.

By the time he was caught, he had stolen more than 24 sets of newspapers and sold them to a rag-and-bone man. When police officers arrived to arrest him, they saw him stuffing 10 sets of newspapers into his pants.

Albert Pang Tze Kaan, 50, was jail for nine weeks on Thursday (10 February) after he pleaded guilty to an amalgamated charge of theft.

Stole 4 sets of newspaper each time

On 10 November last year, Pang entered the 7-Eleven outlet at Seng Poh Road after 8.30pm. He took from the store shelf four sets of Lianhe Wanbao newspapers, valued at $1 each, and left without making payment.

The cashier witnessed his actions and and approached him outside the store to confront him, but Pang scolded him and left.

Pang returned five more times over December and January, stealing four sets of newspapers each time. He would enter the store between 8pm and 10pm to commit the theft.

CCTV cameras caught Pang stealing on five occasions: 26, 28, 30, and 31 December, as well as 3 January. Each time, Pang would stuff the newspapers in his pants and cover them with his shirt.

The cashier on duty did not dare to confront Pang as she was afraid of him, but informed her colleague.

On 17 January, the colleague was in the store when he spotted Pang, and called the police. When police officers arrived, they observed Pang from outside the store and spotted him taking 10 sets of newspaper, slipping them into his pants and covering the loot with his shirt.

Pang then headed to the cashier to pay for only one set of newspapers. Upon seeing the police officers, he left and disposed all the newspapers in a shopping basket. He was then placed under arrest, and all 10 sets of newspapers were recovered.

Sold newspapers to rag-and-bone man

Pang confessed that he had sold the newspapers to a rag-and-bone man for an unknown amount of money and did not make restitution. He had stolen 34 sets of newspapers worth $33.20 on seven occasions.

The prosecution sought 10 weeks’ jail for Pang, whom it said had committed the current offences just about six months after his last conviction, also for stealing newspapers.

In mitigation, Pang said in person that he wished to plead guilty and pass through “this process as soon as possible”. He told the court that he was on financial assistance.

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