Man who stole to feed drug habit jailed 7 years

[Zhuge Liang]

May 11, 2011

Man who stole to feed drug habit jailed 7 years

By Khushwant Singh

Lim Kim Hoe, 57, was jailed two years for theft. The unemployed man was also jailed a further five years for consuming morphine. He was spared caning as he is more than 50 years old. -- PHOTO: SINGAPORE POLICE FORCE

TO FEED his morphine habit, Lim Kim Hoe, 57, went on a crime spree. Between last December and March this year, he stole from seven women and on Wednesday, he was jailed two years for theft. The unemployed man was also jailed a further five years for consuming morphine. He was spared caning as he is more than 50 years old.

According to court documents, his crime spree began at 8.45am on Dec 4 last year when he grabbed a gold chain worth $300 from a woman at a lift lobby in Tanglin Halt Road. He then escaped on his motorcycle which had both registration plates covered in cloth to thwart identification.

On Feb 23, a woman waiting at a bus stop at Telok Blangah Rise at 8am lost her gold chain and pendant worth $300.

Three days later, Lim struck three times. He snatched a gold chain with a red pendant from the neck of a housewife seated alone at the void deck along Jalan Bukit Merah at 8am. At 11am, he ran off with a $180 gold chain belonging to a woman walking near Tanglin Halt Road. Later, at 3pm, Lim snatched a gold necklace worth $300 from a woman near Stirling Road.

He was at it again the next day, getting away with a gold chain of unknown value from a woman walking along Henderson Road at 7.25am. However, his luck ran out when he stole a gold chain worn by Madam Soh Lai Kin, a 60-year-old housewife, who was walking to the market along Telok Blangah Crescent on March 1. The storage box at the back of his motorcycle fell off as he sped away. Police arrested him at his home in Jalan Bukit Merah View two days later.

The urine test indicated that he had consumed morphine. Since he had two previous convictions for abusing morphine in 2006 and 2008, he qualified for enhanced punishment for his latest drug offence.

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