When his uncle complained that his mobile phone could not be used, Mohammed Hanafiah Jumahat went along with his cousin’s plan to steal one for his uncle.

The 29-year-old Singaporean then left the house with his uncle Sani Chabar, 49, and cousin Mohamad Hafiz Juma’at, 37, to look for a victim.

The trio found their victim, Muthu Suresh, in an HDB neighbourhood later that night, and robbed him of his Asus Zenfone 2, worth $350.

Hanafiah pleaded guilty to one charge of robbery in the State Courts on Tuesday (27 June) and was sentenced to the minimum three years’ jail and 12 strokes of the cane. Another charge of being armed with a knuckleduster was taken into consideration for sentencing.

Sani received the same sentence while Hafiz was sentenced to three years and three months’ jail and 12 strokes of the cane. Both were sentenced at an earlier date.

Investigations showed that on 28 December last year, while Sani was at Hafiz’s home, he kept grumbling about wanting a mobile phone since his didn’t work. The two later met Hanafiah at his home to settle some affairs. It was there that Hafiz suggested to steal a mobile phone.

According to Deputy Public Prosecutor Charleston Teo, the three agreed to the plan and proceeded to carry it out.

At around 10.45pm, they found their target: Muthu, a 33-year-old Indian national who was sitting at an exercise corner near Block 324 Tah Ching Road. Muthu had been sitting at bench alone and browsing Facebook on his phone for about 10 minutes before the three accosted him.

Hafiz slapped the left side of Muthu’s head from behind and Hanafiah placed a foot on Muthu’s right shoulder to prevent Muthu from standing. Hafiz then punched Muthu on the face, causing his nose to bleed.

Crying in pain, Muthu stood up and Hanafiah kicked his shoulder two to three times before Hafiz demanded for his mobile phone. Muthu, who was afraid of being assaulted again, handed the phone to Hafiz.

Sani, who was standing nearby during the confrontation, left the scene with Hafiz while Hanafiah went his own way.

The three later met at Hanafiah’s house where Sani and Hafiz reset Muthu’s mobile phone and removed his SIM card. They inserted Sani’s SIM card into the phone and disposed of Muthu’s SIM card.

Meanwhile, the police received a phone call about the incident a short while later. The mobile phone was recovered from Sani after he was arrested the following day for a separate offence.

Muthu sought medical treatment at Ng Teng Fong General Hospital around two hours after the incident. His medical report, dated 14 January 2017, indicated that he suffered a nose fracture and bruises around his jaw and right shoulder. He was given six days of medical leave.

For committing robbery between 7pm and 7am, Hanafiaz could have been jailed between three and 14 years and given more than 12 strokes of the cane.

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