5 days' jail for woman who lied that her mobile phone was snatched, sparking 2-hour manhunt

Shaffiq Alkhatib
The Straits Times
Mar 21, 2024

A woman lied to the police that a man she did not know had snatched her mobile phone in Geylang when, in fact, her boyfriend was in possession of the device at the time.

The prosecution said that she dropped the device when they quarrelled, and she was aware that her boyfriend had picked it up.

Thirty-six-year-old Lee Yi-Ching’s lies caused the police to activate 15 fast response cars to conduct a manhunt that lasted nearly two hours.

Police officers were also tasked to review footage from closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras around Lorong 32 Geylang.

The truth emerged when the police interviewed the Taiwanese woman’s boyfriend who said that he had taken the mobile phone and had intended to return it to her.

Lee finally admitted to her lies on Aug 25, 2023.

Deputy Public Prosecutor John Lu told the court: “The accused confessed that she had quarrelled with her boyfriend the previous day and he wanted to return the mobile phone to her, but she was upset with him.

“The accused also clarified that her boyfriend did not snatch or steal the mobile phone from her.”

On March 21, Lee pleaded guilty to giving false information to a public servant and was sentenced to five days’ jail.

Her boyfriend told investigators during an interview that he was with her at a pub in Sembawang on Aug 24, 2023.

The couple left at around 9pm and he drove her home in a van. For reasons not disclosed in court documents, Lee, who had consumed alcohol, screamed at the man before she alighted.

The man also got out of the vehicle and was walking her home when she dropped her mobile phone.

He picked it up but Lee refused to take back the device. Instead, she screamed at him when he tried to return it to her.

Her boyfriend left the premises with the mobile phone and decided to hand it to her the next day.

Shortly after 10pm, Lee went to Geylang Neighbourhood Police Centre and told a police officer that an unknown man had snatched her mobile phone while she was on her way home in Lorong 32 Geylang.

During the investigation, officers viewed CCTV footage showing her getting out of a van with a man before she got into an argument with him.

Police officers interviewed the boyfriend at around 3.15am, and he revealed that he had kept the mobile phone after Lee refused to take it back from him.

On March 21, the DPP urged the court to sentence Lee to up to a week in jail.

Stressing that her lies had resulted in a complete and significant waste of public resources, he added: “The accused maintained the false narrative for 16 hours and 42 minutes which resulted in the accused’s boyfriend having to be inconvenienced by the surprise and unpleasantness of the police investigations.”

For giving false information to a public servant, an offender can be jailed for up to two years and fined.