Three jailed for shoplifting for food

The Case of the Stealing Three
The curious cases of the three local people staying in the housing blocks, who were caught shoplifting with almost similar circumstances. THE three who stole from supermarkets all had no jobs, no food and two children each to support.

All three also have previous convictions for similar offences, and are jailed for 10 weeks and eight months .

Nurhayati Said, 30, was given 17 weeks' jail for stealing about $26 worth of food items from Cold Storage, Causeway Point Shopping Centre, in Woodlands Square on Dec 31. She shoplifted three packets of chicken items, garlic bread sprinkle and garlic spread, mangoes and sweet corn.Her reasons ? She had been retrenched from a factory and had no food to eat to place on the table.

Later Abdol Wahab Abdul Rahman, 46, was jailed 10 weeks. He stole two packets of chocolate and four packs of six-can Guinness stout totalling $97 from NTUC FairPrice at Taman Jurong Shopping Centre at Yung Sheng Road.
And much later, another man, Abdulrasid Abdul Rahim, 39, was jailed for eight months.
He was caught for stealing six packs of Guinness stout worth $131 from Shop N Save at West Mall Shopping Centre in Bukit Batok Central Link.

Community Court judge Soh Tze Bian said they should go to agencies for help, adding that stealing was no excuse and a serious offence.
Thus goes the case of the recession related crime, reported by the local news. It was reported that each of them could have been jailed for up to seven years and fined for shoplifting.