A man with the unusual name of Batman Suparman was jailed on Monday for two years and nine months for theft, housebreaking and consuming heroin. District Judge Wong Choon Ning could not suppress a smile when she heard his name.

In July, Batman's elder brother, Mr Nurazman Suparman, 28, a service engineer, reported to the police that his ATM card was missing and there had been unauthorised withdrawals amounting to $650. Investigations then revealed that Batman, 23, who is jobless, had stolen the ATM card from their home in Depot Road so as to make the withdrawals.

On the night of Aug 9, he broke into the office of GF Billiards & Marketing in Depot Road. He then stole $200 from the $430 placed in a drawer, probably in the hope that the missing amount might not be noticed. That was not so. An employee checked the surveillance video footage and saw that a thief had forced open a window to enter the premises. Police were informed and the offender was arrested on Aug 19. A urine test revealed that he had also been abusing heroin.

Batman, who has his own fan club on the Facebook social networking site, has garnered 10,000 "likes" for his superhero-like name.