Burglar plunged eight floors to his death after stealing iPhone, gold chain from Yishun flat

SINGAPORE — He managed to break into a friend’s flat on the eighth floor of a housing block in Yishun, stealing an iPhone 6 and a gold chain.

But 25-year-old Nordin Sirajuddin fell to his death moments later, when he lost his footing on a wooden plank placed between the common corridor parapet and an air-conditioning ledge outside the flat.

His death on Nov 9 last year was ruled an unfortunate misadventure by State Coroner Kamala Ponnampalam on Friday (April 26).

Nordin was facing criminal charges of taking controlled drugs, housebreaking by night, and theft in dwelling when he died.

He was previously jailed four months in 2015 for cheating, as well as hatching a plot with his younger brother to use fake S$100 notes to pay for items such as cigarettes and sweets.

His family had financial difficulties such as outstanding bank loans and lawyers’ fees, his oldest brother testified during the coroner’s inquiry.

The day before the burglary, Nordin spoke about his friend, Mr Lim Wee Khuan, who was “quite wealthy” and had many valuable items in his flat. They met in jail in 2015.

Nordin had entertained thoughts of robbing Mr Lim before, but his oldest brother managed to talk him out of it.

This time, however, Nordin told him about a plan to take a bottle of wine to Mr Lim’s flat at Yishun Street 51 and steal from him once he was let in.

Mr Lim previously told the court that Nordin reached out to him sometime in September last year and began visiting him after that.

Mr Lim discovered a few hundred dollars missing from his home after the visits, but did not make a police report as he could not confirm if Nordin had stolen the money. He stopped Nordin’s visits after that.

On Nov 8, Mr Lim was not in when Nordin went over at about 9.45pm, and Nordin handed the wine to his wife.

Mr Lim returned home at around 2am. Around that time, Nordin and his oldest brother left their Punggol residence for Yishun.

On their way out, Nordin took two planks from behind a dry riser next to the lift landing on the fifth floor. “Just in case”, he told his brother.

He later said he would use the planks to get to Mr Lim's flat. Although his brother tried to dissuade him, Nordin positioned the longer plank, measuring about 1.8m, across the gap between the parapet and the air-conditioning ledge.

He broke in and stole a mobile phone and a gold chain with a Thai amulet from Mr Lim’s study room.

The coroner said: “It is believed that Mr Nordin had lost his footing and fallen from height when he was attempting to walk across the same wooden plank towards the parapet of the common corridor.” 

When Nordin did not answer the phone, his brother searched for him and found him lying on the ground floor.

Despite attempts to resuscitate him at the scene and at Khoo Teck Puat Hospital, Nordin died from multiple injuries. He was not under the influence of drugs or other substances.