Man who stole copper earth bars jailed
By Shaffiq Alkhatib | Posted: 07 September 2011 1817 hrs
SINGAPORE: A district court heard on Wednesday that a general worker had managed to break into more than 200 SP Powergrid substations islandwide since 2003, to steal items known as copper earth bars.
The worker, Tan Hong Thow, would sell off his loot, worth at least S$27,000 in all, to a scrap metal dealer. He then used his ill-gotten gains to feed his gambling habit and provide money for his family.
Tan was on Wednesday sentenced to seven-and-a-half years' jail after admitting to 12 of the 223 housebreaking charges.
The court heard that the copper bars are installed to protect network equipment by diverting any abnormal flow of electric current to the earth. Their absence could result in widespread power outages and even injure workers servicing the substation equipment.
Assistant Public Prosecutor Charlene Yang said that Tan was only caught after a resident spotted him breaking into a substation located at Block 608A Woodlands Ring Road at around midnight on June 29. Tan covered himself with a blue canvas sheet before using two screwdrivers to pry open and unfasten the interior latch of the substation door.
In his mitigation plea, Tan told the court that he is remorseful and asked for a light sentence. But APP Yang urged the court to give him around six years' jail, stressing that the sentence imposed should "deter other like-minded members of the general public".
Tan could have been jailed up to 14 years for each charge.
Responding to queries from Channel NewsAsia, an SP PowerGrid's spokesperson said that the company has since stepped up checks and taken immediate measures to further tighten the security of its substations.
He said that earth bars divert any fault current when there is a fault in the substation equipment.
He highlighted that their removal did not cause any power outage at any point in time and electricity supply to customers was never affected.
The spokesperson also said that should there be a fault in any of the parts, the affected equipment would still be isolated from the system. He added that faults occur very rarely in the equipment.
-CNA/ac
