Man who stole Jaguar car, Hermes bag among other items jailed more than a year

SINGAPORE — He chanced upon a dark green-coloured Jaguar with its key lying unattended on its windscreen at East Coast Park and decided to drive it elsewhere in order to steal valuables that were in the car, including a Hermes bag valued at S$15,700.

Muhammad Ibni Adam, who worked as a delivery driver, drove the S$120,000 car from an open-air car park and abandoned it at another car park along East Coast Park about 1km away, leaving the key on top of one of its tyres.

The 31-year-old was arrested three days later, and a urine test confirmed that he was on drugs.

Ibni was sentenced to one year, seven months and two weeks in jail on Wednesday (Feb 5), after he pleaded guilty to five charges — three theft charges and two drug-related charges.

The judge also banned him from driving for a year.

Court documents stated that the items he took from the car on April 7 last year included branded handbag accessories valued at S$1,210, a Hermes cosmetics bag valued at S$1,300, and a pair of Valentino sunglasses valued at S$1,500.

He also took from the car a Marina Bay Sands Elite membership card, a UOB Solitaire credit card, an American Express Platinum card, a cash card that had a stored value of S$50, a bag containing an assortment of cosmetic products and the car’s cleaning kits and rags.

That day, the 45-year-old boyfriend of the car’s 43-year-old female owner drove her and his mother to East Coast Park at about 4pm, and parked the car in car park C4.

At about 6.50pm on the same day, they returned and discovered that the car was nowhere to be found. The boyfriend could not find the remote key for the car, too.

He then called the police to report that he did not know how his car key went missing, noting that there were valuable items in the car. The police later located the Jaguar at car park D2.

Investigations later revealed that Ibni, who drove his van to the car park, chanced upon the victim’s remote key lying unattended on the car’s windscreen.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Benedict Chan said that Ibni then formed a “dishonest intention” of shifting the car to steal the valuables in it.

After he stole the items, he walked back to car park C4 where he had left his van, placed the items at the back of his van, then drove to a hotel in Geylang, where he temporarily resided with his girlfriend.

The police arrested him at the hotel on April 10 last year, at about 3.30pm, and recovered all of the stolen items except for the credit cards and membership card.

The court heard that Ibni had committed theft on Jan 15 last year as well.

At about 5am that day, he walked into a 24-hour launderette located along Sims Avenue and stole from a 48-year-old Chinese national who had fallen asleep there after having some beer.

He took S$3,000 in cash, a work permit, a China identity card, a Nissan car key, a dormitory access card and a phone SIM card. None of these items were recovered.

Ibni’s lawyer, Mr Patrick Fernandez, told the court on Wednesday that his client did not premeditate his offences, and eventually left the Jaguar where it could easily be found.

“Our client did not attempt to sell the car for his benefit,” he said, as he urged the judge to impose a more lenient sentence.

Mr Fernandez also said that Ibni regretted not setting a good example to his two sons, aged four and five, from a previous marriage, as well as causing grief to his elderly father, who suffers from diabetes and heart problems.

For committing theft of a motor vehicle, Ibni could have been jailed up to seven years and fined. Theft of the items could have resulted in another three years in jail.