SINGAPORE: A recalcitrant thief who has been offending since he was 16 was sentenced to five years' corrective training and six strokes of the cane on Friday (Jan 10) for breaking into a building and stealing a carrot and two keys.

Affendi Yusoff, 45, was working as a cleaner at a building in 7 Gambas Crescent when he decided to spend the night there on Jun 9 last year.



He woke up in the middle of the night feeling hungry and walked around the building looking for food, the court heard.

He walked past the Urban Kids Childcare centre and noticed that the windows leading to the toilet were open.

He climbed in through an open window and went to the pantry, where he stole a carrot worth 35 cents from the fridge, said Deputy Public Prosecutor Colin Ng.

He ate the carrot and ransacked the shelves and drawers in the office.



Affendi stole two keys each worth S$3.50 from the childcare centre - one to the back door and another to the toilet - before leaving through the window.

When an employee of the childcare centre arrived in the morning, she saw the mess left behind, with opened drawers and items strewn over the floor.

She immediately informed the principal, who filed a police report and found that the keys and carrot were missing.

When asked by one of the centre employees if he had seen anyone breaking in during the wee hours, Affendi feigned ignorance and asked them if anything had been stolen.

The police arrived soon and found Affendi's behaviour to be suspicious, said the prosecutor. He later admitted to breaking into the childcare centre to commit theft, and was arrested.

Affendi pleaded guilty to two counts of house-breaking by night to commit theft, with a third charge taken into consideration.

HE HAS BEEN OFFENDING SINCE 1990

A report found Affendi suitable for corrective training, a long period of incarceration without remission for repeat offenders.

The defence asked for five years' jail, but the prosecutor pushed for at least five years' corrective training and six strokes of the cane.

He pointed out that Affendi had been offending "with consistent regularity" since 1990, proving himself "a habitual offender with blatant disregard for the property of others".

In 29 years, he has committed 11 similar offences and has been sentenced previously to probation and jail.

The most recent offence was attempted house-breaking by night, which Affendi was given seven years' jail and six strokes of the cane for.

The penalty for house-trespass by night to commit theft is a jail term of between two and 14 years, and a fine.

As Affendi had previously been convicted of a similar offence, he was liable for caning.