Woman jailed for stealing $6,000 from mum's safe

She waited until her mother was overseas before hiring a locksmith to crack her mother's safe.

The 25-year-old woman then made off with about $6,200 in cash.

She was arrested when she returned to her mother's flat a month later. To make matters worse, she had consumed drugs and had some in her possession then.

Yesterday, Sun Weiyi, a Singapore permanent resident from China, was jailed 11 months.

Court papers said that Sun lived with her mother at a Hougang Avenue 5 HDB flat until August last year.

Sun returned to the flat on Sept 10, hours after her mother had flown off to Vietnam on a business trip.

Two days later, she hired a locksmith, claiming she wanted to retrieve her passport from a safe.

LOCKSMITH

What she was really eyeing was the US$3,000 (S$4,135) and RMB 10,000 (S$2,108) inside the safe.

After paying the locksmith for his services, she grabbed the money and left the flat.

When Sun's mother returned a few days later, she realised the money was missing, suspected it was her daughter's doing and made a police report.

When she called the police, she said: "I suspect it might be the doing of my daughter. She is not home. Please inform your officers to call me."

Sun was arrested on Oct 8 outside her mother's flaton suspicion of drug-related offences.

Officers found in her handbag a packet of crystalline substance, which was analysed and found to be methamphetamine, commonly known as Ice.

Sun claimed her ex-boyfriend, only known as James, had passed her the packet two weeks earlier.

She also admitted to smoking Ice in September last year.

Yesterday, Sun was jailed for one count each of drug possession, drug consumption and theft in dwelling.

One other charge, which is drug-related, was taken into consideration for sentencing.

Court papers said James' true identity remains unknown.

Defence lawyer Sng Kheng Huat said in mitigation that Sun had been influenced by James to steal from her mother.

He added that James went on the run with the money and is on the police's wanted list.

For possessing and consuming drugs, she could have been jailed up to 10 years and fined $20,000 for each charge.

For theft, she could have been jailed up to seven years and fined.