Man Sentenced to a Week’s Jail After He Stole 11 Live Crabs from House of Seafood Restaurant in Punggol

Have you ever been to one of those Chinese seafood restaurants, where all the live fishes and crabs are on display?

Just imagine: you’re peacefully eating your meal at one such restaurant when suddenly you see two men trying to steal live crabs from the restaurant’s tank.

Yeah, you would probably have a hard time believing your own eyes.

Man Jailed After Stealing Live Crabs from Restaurant 

On Thursday (22 July), 59-year-old Abdul Karim Mohamad was sentenced to a weeks’ jail for stealing 11 live crabs from the seafood restaurant, House of Seafood. He was also fined S$1,000 for failing to wear a mask properly when misappropriating someone else’s groceries.

The Singaporean had pleaded guilty to one charge of theft and another charge of breaching COVID-19 laws after failing to wear a mask over his nose and mouth. Another third charge of dishonestly misappropriating groceries was taken into consideration during his sentencing.

If Abdul Karim is unable to pay the fine, five more days will be added to his jail sentence.

Meanwhile, his younger brother, Mohamed Zainal Mohamed, was given a 12-month conditional warning in May for receiving stolen property.

On 21 September last year, Abdul Karim had teamed up with his younger brother to steal 11 crabs from the House of Seafood at Punggol.

They had reportedly been walking along Punggol Settlement around 7:45pm, when they came across a large tank containing multiple crabs.

Abdul Karim had reportedly began removing and placing the crabs in a plastic bag, which he passed to his brother. In total, they had attempted to steal 11 crabs from the restaurant.

The 11 crabs comprised five large crabs and six small crabs—the former was worth S$140 per crab, while the latter was worth S$29 per crab. In total, the total worth of the crabs that Abdul Karim and his brother had attempted to steal was around S$874.

After successfully removing the crabs from the tank, the pair had tried to flee, but were thwarted when a customer informed the restaurant manager about the incident.

When the manager shouted at the brothers, they tried to run away. However, failing to outrun the restaurant staff, Abdul Karim was quickly apprehended and forced to return the crabs.

Not His First Offence 

On 8 October last year, Abdul Karim had reportedly took two plastic bags of groceries that an elderly man left at a Sengkang Housing and Development Board (HDB) block’s lift lobby.

The elderly man had left the bags at the lift lobby for a brief moment to return to his motorcycle.

Groceries in the bag included cans of sardines, corned beef and oatmeal, as well as two loaves of bread. Abdul Karim was captured on CCTV taking the groceries with his face mask pulled down to his chin.

Within 10 minutes, the elderly man had returned, but ended up not being able to find his groceries. He proceeded to make a police report the next day, after which Abdul Karim was arrested and taken to court.

During his court hearing back then, Abdul Karim had initially denied his intention to steal the groceries, protesting that the groceries had been placed at an area where people usually discarded their things.

However, he eventually admitted that he had wanted to resell the items for money to buy food.

Abdul Karim was also fined for theft in 1980 and sentenced to 30 months’ jail in 2003 for a similar offence, Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Ong Xin Jie told the court. He had also been sentenced to seven years’ jail and given six strokes of the cane for drug consumption in 2007.

Taking note of Abdul Karim’s past offences, DPP Ong asked the judge for a weeks’ jail and a S$1,000 fine. In mitigation, Abdul Karim said that he suffered from asthma, high blood pressure and diabetes, and asked for a fine and the lightest sentence possible.

If found guilty of violating COVID-19 laws, one can be sentenced to up to six months’ jail or fined up to S$10,000, or both.

If convicted of theft in a dwelling, one can be sentenced to up to seven years’ jail and fined.

Read Also:

• CEO of House of Seafood Apologises (Again) for Walking Crabs
• Man Stole Crabs Worth Over $10,000 From Punggol Crab Vending Machine

Featured Image: Facebook (House of Seafood)