Man who gloated over death of cop charged with shoplifting

A man who attracted intense scrutiny last week is back in the news.

Thomas Chua Poh Heng had allegedly uploaded a Facebook post gloating over the death of Traffic Police officer Nadzrie Matin, who was killed in an accident while on patrol last Thursday.

In response, Law and Home Affairs Minister K. Shanmugam stated in a Facebook post on Saturday, that people like Chua are "sick in the head", with "no decency or any sense of right and wrong".

In an unrelated development, Chua, 38, was charged yesterday in court with one count of shoplifting. The part-time deliveryman allegedly stole a 100ml bottle of Must de Cartier perfume worth $98 at Mustafa Centre in Little India around 5.40am on Sunday.

Chua, who was unrepresented, will be remanded at the Institute of Mental Health for a psychiatric assessment. He will be back in court on June 19.

In a statement yesterday, police said officers arrested Chua after Mustafa Centre's in-house security caught him with an unpaid item outside the department store. Three other police reports have been lodged against him since January and investigations into those cases are ongoing.

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Staff Sergeant Nadzrie, 29, was involved in an accident with a van on Serangoon Road. The van driver, 52, has been arrested for a negligent act causing death.

Chua allegedly claimed he had once received a speeding ticket from Staff Sgt Nadzrie.

The police said Chua had a list of traffic violations but none of them was dealt with by Staff Sgt Nadzrie.

The police added: "The remarks made on the late (Staff Sgt Nadzrie) were hurtful and unfair towards the police. They not only hurt the police officers, but also the late (officer's) family, friends and loved ones.

"The police will remain professional and objective in conducting our criminal investigations into (Chua's) offences."

If convicted of shoplifting, Chua could be jailed for up to seven years and fined.