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Firefighter who stole smartwatch while responding to a home fire gets jail
The victim saw on her mobile app that the missing watch was last used at Ang Mo Kio Fire Station.
File photo of the State Courts in Singapore. (Photo: CNA/Jeremy Long)
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Davina Tham
17 May 2024 12:53PM (Updated: 17 May 2024 05:58PM)
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SINGAPORE: While responding to a case of fire in someone's home, a firefighter spotted an Apple Watch and stole it when he was alone.
Ernest Tay Xiheng, 26, was on Friday (May 17) jailed for three months after pleading guilty to one count of theft.
He was serving National Service as a firefighter in the Singapore Civil Defence Force at the time of the offence.
On Sep 1, 2023, a fire was reported in a flat at Ang Mo Kio Avenue 4 at about 7am. The occupants were evacuated for their own safety.
A team of firefighters from Ang Mo Kio Fire Station, including Tay, was deployed. On arrival, they set about investigating the source of the fire as there was smoke but no actual fire.
During the investigation, Tay entered a bedroom, saw an Apple Watch on the floor and formed the intention to steal it, said the prosecution.
At about 8am, when he was the only person left in the bedroom, Tay pocketed the watch and left the flat. He reset the watch upon returning to the fire station and then brought it home after work.
Tay later regretted taking the watch and was afraid the police would investigate the theft. He threw it away at a grass patch along the Tampines Expressway while on his motorcycle, said the prosecution.
On Sep 7, the owner of the watch realised it was missing and searched unsuccessfully for it in the flat.
She then used a mobile application to locate the watch, and saw that it was last used at Ang Mo Kio Fire Station on Sep 1.
But the woman had not been informed of any seizure of items from her flat during the fire, and had never visited the fire station. Suspicious, she made a police report about the missing watch two days later.
Tay was arrested on Oct 18. The watch, valued at S$332 (US$245), was not recovered but Tay made full restitution to the victim.
The prosecutor asked for three to four months' jail for Tay, taking reference from cases of theft by police officers.
While Tay was not a police officer, the principle of deterrence should apply just as strongly to emergency response personnel, said the prosecutor.
As a firefighter, Tay was in a unique position where he could access the homes of members of the public to perform his duty, and he abused that trust, the prosecutor argued.
Tay's lawyers, Mr Josephus Tan and Mr Cory Wong of Invictus Law, sought a maximum of two months' jail for their client.
Tay's actions were not premeditated and it was simply a case of "he came, he saw, he stole", argued Mr Tan.
He stressed that Tay offered full restitution to the victim even before getting legal representation, which indicated his remorse early on.
The defence also pointed out that Tay was a first-time offender, and argued that the theft was out of character given his otherwise good conduct.
They argued that a jail term exceeding three months would be "crushing" for him as this would mean a permanent criminal record, rather than the record being spent five crime-free years after his release.
District Judge Kamala Ponnampalam accepted that the theft was opportunistic, but said it was particularly aggravating that Tay did it while on duty as a uniformed officer.
She gave limited weight to his restitution as this was made after the theft was discovered by authorities, but noted his early plea of guilt.
The judge also decided that the defence's argument on a permanent criminal record took a backseat to the other sentencing considerations.
"A criminal record is the usual consequence of committing an offence," she said.
The penalty for theft is a jail term of up to seven years and a fine.
In response to CNA queries, SCDF said that it takes a "serious view" of any commission of offence by its officers, including full-time National Servicemen.
"We expect our officers to uphold exemplary standards of conduct, integrity, and discipline at all times. We immediately removed the offender from frontline duties, and placed him in an administrative post, once we were informed that he would be charged in court," said an SCDF spokesperson.
