ROBBER HIT AND CHOKED MUM-TO-BE09 Jan 2013SOURCE: The Straits Times
http://thecourtroom.stomp.com.sg/st...ay/1530126/robber_hit_and_choked_mumtobe.html
A robber who targeted pregnant women punched one in the head and tried to choke her when she would not let go of her handbag.Ms Baquiran Majella Cybelle Fernandez, 34, who was eight months pregnant, stood her ground when jobless Muhammad Noh Mohammad Jais, 26, attacked her in a lift.*He tried to snatch the bag, containing $3,000, but fled empty-handed.Two days later on Nov14, he struck again and snatched a handbag with items amounting to $515 from Ms Chng Seok Keng.*The 29-year-old victim was then nine months pregnant and also in a lift.He admitted to the theft yesterday in a district court and was sentenced to two years in jail and four strokes of the cane.*For the attempted robbery, he was jailed for four years and ordered to be caned 12 times.*In total, he will serve six years behind bars and be caned 16 times.The man, who was diagnosed as having moderate mental illness, committed the first offence in Tampines and the second in Simei between 4pm and 5pm.*Both women are believed to be housewives.Police responding to Ms Chng’s call found her purple handbag and personal documents strewn at a staircase landing together with a $2 note.*She was carrying about $15 in her handbag.Through surveillance camera footage from the lift, police established the thief’s identity and Muhammad Noh, who is single, was arrested an hour later in Tampines Central.*He led police to a rubbish bin where Ms Chng’s iPhone, valued at $500, was found.The prosecutor said that Muhammad Noh had picked on very vulnerable victims and should be punished severely.In 2010, he was jailed for three years and caned 12 times for robbing a pregnant woman.For stealing from Ms Chng, he could have been jailed between a year and seven years and was liable for caning.The penalty for attempted robbery is a jail term of between two and seven years and caning with not less than six strokes.
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