SINGAPORE — Despite multiple stints in jail for theft and violence-related offences, Mohammad Halimun Mohammad Shaifful continued stealing things like bottled drinks, as well as the national flag of Saudi Arabia from the embassy here.

The 33-year-old Singaporean was sentenced on Wednesday (Oct 27) to 11 months’ jail for his actions this year.

He pleaded guilty to two counts of theft and one of voluntarily causing hurt to a vulnerable person.

The court heard that he assaulted his 81-year-old grandmother, who suffers from dementia and uses a walking stick, on June 16 in their flat.

The elderly woman had walked into the kitchen, where Halimun was preparing food, and was about to enter the toilet when he suddenly turned around and kicked her on her left hip and slapped her cheek.

When she shouted, the family’s domestic worker pulled her into the living room and called out to Halimun’s father for help.

The older man, who had been taking a nap, asked his son to leave their home. The family subsequently did not allow him to return home, the court further heard.

On July 31, Halimun then stole three bottled drinks from an NTUC FairPrice outlet along Sophia Road before leaving the store. Staff there called the police.

Around midnight the next day, he then went to the flagpole outside the Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia, located along Penang Road in the Dhoby Ghaut area, and detached the national flag before taking it away.

Court documents did not state why he did this.

Someone from the embassy called the police two days later to report that the flag was missing. Halimun was identified through closed-circuit television footage and he was arrested on Aug 5 with the flag in his bag.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Seah Ee Wei sought nine to 12 months’ jail for Halimun, noting that he had reoffended half a year after being released from his last prison stint.

Back then, he was jailed for assaulting a security guard and security manager when he was told to stop smoking at Peninsula Shopping Centre. He also punched a passerby who told him to discard a beer can properly instead of throwing it onto the floor.

From 2018 to 2020, he was also jailed thrice for stealing things like a mobile phone holder, self-care products and a petrol rewards card.

When asked if he had anything to say in mitigation, he replied that he had nothing to say.

He could have been jailed for up to three years or fined, or punished with both, for theft. Those convicted of theft in a dwelling can be jailed for up to seven years and fined.