Repeat offender jailed for stealing cash while working as petrol station cashier
Screengrab from Google Street View of the Shell station in Sembawang.
Published December 28, 2021
SINGAPORE — A man who has been in and out of prison over the years and was given stints of corrective training reoffended during his shift as a cashier at a Shell petrol station.
Tan Tian Hock, 37, was sentenced to 20 months' jail on Tuesday (Dec 28) for stealing S$1,500 from the cash register and using the company's cashcard to make cash top-ups of S$495.
He pleaded guilty to a charge each of theft by a servant and criminal breach of trust by a servant. A third charge was taken into consideration.
The court heard that Tan was working at Shell Sembawang in October 2020, and was assigned to both cashier duties and the pumping of petrol.
On Oct 30, 2020, he took the cash register to the storeroom, as the drawer had automatically ejected after the amount of money inside exceeded a certain limit.
Tan was supposed to put the excess money into a safe in the storeroom, but instead pocketed the pile of money amounting to S$1,500. His actions were caught on the store's closed-circuit television cameras.
That same day, Tan used the company's cashcard and made top-ups amounting to S$495 via the point of sale system.
When his shift ended, he left the store, but later called the station's franchise manager to admit to taking the company's cashcard to pay off his debts.
He also confessed to taking the missing S$1,500 when asked by the manager, who lodged a police report a few days later.
The court heard that Tan is "heavily traced" for property-related offences. He was given three months' jail in 2004 for criminal breach of trust and was placed in corrective training in 2012.
The prosecutor sought 20 to 24 months' jail for Tan, saying his method of theft via the cashcard top-ups was relatively sophisticated, and that he is a "habitual repeat offender".
In mitigation, Tan said he admitted his mistake and pleaded for leniency.
The judge noted his "chequered background of property-related antecedents" notwithstanding a considerable period of incarceration and two rounds of corrective training. Corrective training is given to repeat offenders, with no early release.
"You had gone back to your old ways, which is disappointing and a mark of your recalcitrance that calls for specific deterrence," she said.
She told Tan that he would ordinarily be considered for corrective training or preventive detention, a type of sentence that locks away a repeat offender for the safety of the public. But she noted that he was found in a corrective training report to have a good attitude towards gainful employment.
"The court is minded to grant you a final opportunity to live in a constructive and socially responsible manner," said the judge.
After the sentence was passed, Tan asked to speak. "I would like to thank your honour and (the prosecutor) for giving me a chance," he said.
The judge told him: "You really need to walk the talk. You don't need to account to us, but you need to account to yourself ... You are 37, it's time you started to love yourself."
For criminal breach of trust as a servant, Tan could have been jailed up to 15 years and fined. For theft by a servant, he could have been jailed up to seven years and fined. CNA
