Twin sisters who crashed wedding, stole from newlyweds, jailed
A pair of twins who crashed a wedding banquet in November last year and stole items belonging to the bride and groom were jailed on Thursday (5 July).
Neither of the 30-year-old sisters had been invited to the event, nor did they know anyone there, but that did not stop them from attending it, during which they attempted to make of with a piece of luggage belonging to the newlyweds. The pair had also gone on a shoplifting spree earlier that day.
For their actions, Tiffany Kang Pei Yi received a 10-day sentence while Tiziana Kang Pei Ying was handed a 5-day prison term. Tiffany had earlier pleaded guilty to one count of cheating and one count of theft while Tiziana admitted to one count of theft.
The twins’ lawyer, Anand Nalachandran, said the pair had a history with the Institute of Mental Health (IMH) dating back to 2003. It is unclear what condition they may be suffering from.
Anand said the sisters, who were adopted, had been under the care of an aunt before being transferred to a foster mother when the aunt died. He also noted that all the stolen items had been recovered and no loss had been caused to any party.
The lawyer asked for probation or a one-day sentence for the sisters.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Rachel Tan, however, said that probation would not be suitable for the as the sisters are both adults.
She added that an IMH report did not establish a contributing link between the twins’ psychiatric condition and their offences. The DPP asked for more than a week’s jail for Tiffany and a short custodial sentence for Tiziana.
Day of mischief
On 19 November last year, the Kang sisters crashed a wedding banquet at the Shin Yeh Restaurant in Liang Court.
Following the dinner, the women joined a queue to give blessings to the couple. It was at around this time that Tiffany also convinced one of the groomsmen to hand to her a piece of pink luggage belonging to the couple.
Thinking that Tiffany was a relative of the newlyweds, the groomsman handed over the bag and the sisters left the restaurant with it. The luggage, valued at $45, contained $151 worth of items such as coffee mugs, photo frames and a bouquet of plastic flowers.
The groomsman later told the newlyweds about what happened and all three realised that none of them knew Tiffany. At around 11pm, the twins were stopped by the bride’s friends at Liang Court’s taxi stand.
Tiffany attempted to pass off the luggage as a lost item and leave in a taxi but was stopped. The groom then called the police.
Earlier that day, the sisters had also visited a Guess boutique in Bugis Junction and made away with three handbags and a wallet worth a total of $642. They also pocketed items from the Lavina and TEMT stores at the Bugis+ mall.
For cheating, Tiffany could have been jailed up to 10 years and fined. For theft, each could have been jailed a maximum of seven years and fined.
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