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Jobless man cheats stallholders
By Leong Wee Keat | Posted: 29 December 2010 1817 hrs
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SINGAPORE : An unemployed man has preyed on the honesty of stallholders by claiming he had been short-changed, a District Court heard on Wednesday.
Going around Sims Place wet market on Sep 24 at about 6am, Low Kok Sheng, 37, bought items with low monetary value using a S$50 note.
After receiving his change, he would hide S$10 of the amount returned when he noticed the stallholders were busy serving other customers.
Low would then claim he had been short-changed. He even chided some by asking: "Haven't woken up, is it?'
As the unsuspecting stallholders did not want to argue with a 'customer', they handed Low another S$10 note, said Assistant Public Prosecutor N K Anitha.
He cheated five different stallholders of S$50.
Pleading for leniency, Low claimed he did not know what he was doing due to the effects of taking medication. He was suffering from stress, depression and insomnia, the court heard.
However, District Judge Low Wee Ping noted that the offences were not his first brush with the law.
Low has had previous convictions for theft, housebreaking and cheating, and had been in and out of prison since he was 16.
The judge ordered Low to undergo corrective training for five years and warned: "This is your last chance to change."
- CNA/al