SINGAPORE: A 51-year-old man who stole from a fellow passenger on a Scoot flight was jailed for 10 months on Wednesday (May 28).
Zhang Kun, a Chinese national, earlier pleaded guilty to one charge of theft.
The offence took place on flight TR465 from Kuala Lumpur to Singapore on Mar 16. Zhang was seated three rows behind the victim, whose backpack, containing a sling bag and a wallet, was in the overhead compartment.
During the night flight, the victim and his companion left their seats to celebrate a birthday with their friends at the back of the plane.
Seeing that the victim was gone, Zhang quickly went to the overhead compartment, took the backpack and brought it to his own seat.
He found the wallet and took S$200 in cash, RM100 (S$30) and a credit card. He then placed the wallet back and returned the backpack to the overhead compartment.
Zhang’s actions were seen by the passenger sitting next to him.
After the flight landed, the passenger who was next to Zhang approached the victim and asked him to check his backpack.
When the victim realised that his cash and credit card were missing, the passenger pointed him in Zhang’s direction.
The victim confronted Zhang and blocked his credit card, while his companion made a police report.
Between then and the time the police arrived, Zhang was seen making a number of trips to the toilet.
Zhang was arrested later that night, but the police were unable to recover the victim’s valuables, and Zhang did not reveal what he had done with them.
Investigations found that Zhang had accomplices on the Scoot flight. Like him, they were set to be in Singapore for a two-hour layover before transiting to Hong Kong.
Zhang previously denied stealing the valuables and asked prosecutors to show “proof” that he had taken them.
The punishment for theft is up to three years in jail, a fine or both.
PASSENGER LAUDED
The passenger who alerted the victim to the theft received the police’s Public Spiritedness Award in March.
Mr K Visvanathan provided “crucial information”, leading to Zhang’s arrest at Changi Airport Terminal 1 after the flight’s arrival.
“I would like to commend Mr Visvanathan for his public-spiritedness,” said Commander of Airport Police Division, Assistant Commissioner of Police M Malathi.
“Such vigilance goes a long way in the swift detection and substantiation of such crimes, which are often challenging to uncover due to their transient nature.”
