A woman has been jailed for five days for lying to the police about an alleged case of phone theft in Geylang.
In actuality, the phone was with her boyfriend the whole time.
The police activated 15 police vehicles to search for the alleged thief in a manhunt that lasted nearly two hours.
The 36-year-old lady was sentenced after she pleaded guilty to providing false information to a public servant.
According to The Straits Times (ST), Ms Lee Yi-Ching and her boyfriend were heading home on 24 Aug 2023 after visiting a pub in Sembawang.
For undisclosed reasons, Ms Lee started screaming at her boyfriend during the trip and dropped her phone after alighting from the vehicle.
Her boyfriend tried to return the device to Ms Lee but she refused to take it back and screamed at him instead.
The man then left the scene with the phone, deciding to return it to her the following day.
Later that night, Ms Lee lodged a report at Geylang Neighbourhood Police Centre. She claimed that a stranger had “snatched” her phone while she was heading home.
The police deployed 15 fast response cars to find the alleged thief, with the hunt lasting nearly two hours.
As investigations progressed, officers reviewed CCTV footage at the location of the alleged theft, along Lorong 32 Geylang.
Source: Google Maps
CCTV footage showed Ms Lee alighting from a van and arguing with a man.
The police interviewed the man later that night — he revealed that he held onto the phone after Ms Lee refused to take it back.
The next day, Ms Lee confessed to quarrelling with her boyfriend the day before and admitted she was upset with him.
Ms Lee also confirmed that her boyfriend “did not snatch or steal the mobile phone from her”, said Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) John Lu.
On Thursday (21 March), Ms Lee pleaded guilty to giving false information to a public servant.
DPP Lu pushed for Ms Lee to be jailed for up to a week, saying her dishonestly came at the cost of public resources.
He also mentioned her boyfriend was “inconvenienced by the surprise and unpleasantness of the police investigations.”
The 36-year-old was eventually sentenced to five days’ jail.
For providing false information to a public servant, Ms Lee could’ve faced up to two years’ jail and a fine.
Also read: S’porean man’s wife jailed 3 months for swinging knife at him in front of children
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Featured image adapted from Google Maps.
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