46-year-old man who broke into landed property at East Coast gets 17 months' jail

An unemployed 46-year-old man who broke into a landed property at East Coast and stole branded handbags and English pounds was sentenced to 17 months in prison. 

It was earlier reported that the incident was witnessed by two domestic helpers.

The helpers tried to stop the thief, and the trio subsequently got into a scuffle, before the man decided to run, with the two helpers hot on his trail.

Realising that he could not shake the two off, the man decided to scatter the pounds he had stolen onto the streets to delay the two and even threatened them with a pair of scissors, reports Lianhe Wanbao via Lianhe Zaobao. 

The suspect has been charged with four charges, and was sentenced to a 17 months in prison on Tuesday (May 16) after pleading guilty.

The house which the man allegedly broke into is occupied by a 32-year-old female owner, her grandmother and two maids. 

According to Lianhe Wanbao, the accused had climbed into the study room of the landed property between 10am to 11am on the day of the incident, and stolen $500 worth of handbags as well as 830 British pounds (around S $1,496). 

He was discovered by a 30-year-old maid who screamed for help, prompting the suspect to run, while the other 33-year-old helper chased after him.

Mr Goh, a helpful passer-by who stumbled upon the situation ran after the suspect, after the 33-year-old helper aproached him, ‘Can you help me? A man has taken money from my house!’

While Mr Goh’s wife called the police, the man ran after the suspect, shouting for him to return the money he stole.

During the course of the chase, the suspect eventually abandoned all his loot by the roadside.

Not long after, the 30-year-old helper caught up to the suspect, and he allegedly turned and slapped her before running off again.

Mr Goh stopped pursuing after he realised that he man had already discarded all the money and items he had taken on the road. 

The lost articles were recovered by the two helpers after the incident.

The police swiftly arrested the suspect on the same day at around 11.55am.