Man breaks into 145 flats to steal $903,175

By Pearly Tan

Bay admitted to the police that he would first ransack the living room. If the loot was insufficient, he would then break into other rooms to search for valuables.

Not recovered

Most of the stolen items were not recovered as he had sold them to unknown buyers in Chinatown and Geylang. He gambled away all the stolen cash at the casinos.

Bay admitted that he committed the offences in order to support his gambling addiction.

Bay was convicted twice - in 1993 and 1999 - for housebreaking.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Lim Yu Hui highlighted in court yesterday the severity of Bay's offences, saying he had committed them to feed his gambling habit.

She added that the offences could be said to have been premeditated as Bay had arrived at the units armed with a screwdriver.

In his mitigation, his lawyer, Mr Teo Choo Kee, said that Bay had tried to live a normal life but could not overcome his gambling habit.

He added that his client was not incapable of being reformed and that he had cooperated with the police.

Bay's nephew was the only family member in court yesterday.

At the end of the hearing, Bay asked District Judge Paul Quan for permission to call his mother, and was granted a 10-minute supervised phonecall to her.

Judge Quan called for preventive detention and corrective training reports and the case was adjourned till June 23.

For housebreaking, Bay could have been jailed 10 years and caned for each charge.

 Precautions to protect your house

Install windows with iron grilles and good quality key-operated locks.

Main doors should be of solid construction and fitted with a good-quality mortise lock with a dead bolting feature (where a key is needed to lock and unlock the door).

Reinforce all doors with iron grille gates together with metal clasp and a close-shackle padlock. Fix door peephole, latch chain and surface latches on the main doors.

Keep large sums of cash in banks.

Leave the radio on and a light on at night to give an "at home" appearance.

Cancel all deliveries, such as newspapers, when you are away from home for a few days.

Lock all doors and windows when leaving the home unattended, even if it is for a short while.

Ask your immediate neighbours to keep an eye on your house for any unusual occurrences.

Change all locks when the house keys are lost or stolen.

Inform your Neighbourhood Police Centre (NPC) or Neighbourhood Police Post (NPP) when you are away on vacation.

Do not hide your keys under the door mat, in flower pots or on top of the electricity meter box.

Info taken from the National Crime Prevention Council website.

This article was first published in The New Paper.