SINGAPORE: They had stolen toiletries to the tune of about S$16,000 from supermarkets all over Singapore in eight months, and had 17 charges against them.
But because Daniel Wong Chee Kian, 38, is a schizophrenic and his wife, 39—year—old Boo Lee Choo, has a mood disorder — according to their Institute of Mental Health reports — the prosecution had already reduced the number of charges against them to one each.
And on Wednesday, they were both given a conditional discharge for stealing with a common intention. The couple’s lawyer had urged the court to grant them a conditional discharge and said they both seemed to be on the road to recovery after going for medical treatment.
Wong had originally faced 10 charges and Boo seven.
On January 21 last year, Wong and Boo went to the Cold Storage supermarket at Parkway Parade, took toiletries off the shelves and placed them in a shopping basket as they walked through the lanes.
A loss prevention officer, Mr Kelvin Po, who was monitoring the store’s CCTV cameras found their behaviour suspicious and went to the lanes to observe them.
He saw Boo taking out items from the shopping basket that Wong was holding and placing them in a red paper bag.
The couple then walked out of the supermarket without paying for the items in the red paper bag. Those were valued at around S$150.
Mr Po approached them but before he was able to introduce himself, Boo tried to escape. She struggled with Mr Po and scratched his hands. Wong ran away during the scuffle.
Boo was eventually detained. Wong was arrested later.
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