Jobless man jailed for snatching elderly woman's necklace
Jail for snatch thief who grabs woman's jewellery
A jobless man, who had financial woes, snatched an elderly woman's gold necklace and pawned it for $790.
Muhammad Azmi Mustapa Kammal, 28, used $410 to redeem his mother's gold ring at another pawnshop.
He gave her and his brother $50 each, and kept the remaining $280.
Azmi was jailed for 13 months yesterday for using criminal force to commit theft on May 10.
A second charge for a similar offence, in which he snatched a $500 Samsung phone and $10 from Ms Kew Teresita Villahermosa, 52, on Feb 1, was taken into consideration during sentencing.
On May 10, at about 10.30am, Azmi was on his way to a job interview when he saw Ms Choo Chew, 69, at a void deck at Block 272, Tampines Street 22.
Azmi noticed that the retiree, who was heading home from a market, was wearing a gold necklace and he decided to steal it.
Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Tang Shangjun told the court yesterday that Ms Choo had bought it 40 years ago for $200.
Azmi crept up behind Ms Choo and yanked the necklace until it broke. Ms Choo shouted at him, but he ignored her cries.
FLED
He fled in a taxi and went to Bedok Central, where he pawned the necklace for $790 at a ValueMax pawnshop.
Azmi then redeemed his mother's gold ring, which he had earlier pawned for her, at another pawnshop.
Ms Choo made a police report at Changkat Neighbourhood Police Post at Tampines Street 11 around 4pm that day.
Azmi was arrested about three hours later.
For using criminal force to commit theft, he could have been jailed between one and seven years, and caned.
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