A 51-year-old man was jailed for 10 months on Wednesday, May 28, for stealing from a fellow passenger on a Scoot flight.
Zhang Kun, a Chinese national, earlier pleaded guilty to one charge of theft.
The incident happened on March 16 on flight TR465 from Kuala Lumpur to Singapore. Zhang sat three rows behind the victim, who had a backpack in the overhead compartment with a wallet and a sling bag.
The victim and his companion got up from their seats during the night trip to join their friends at the rear of the aircraft in celebrating a birthday.
Zhang hurried to the overhead compartment, grabbed the rucksack, and carried it to his own seat after realizing the victim was no longer there.
After locating the wallet, he took a credit card, RM100 (S$30), and S$200 in cash. After that, he put the wallet back and put the backpack back in the overhead bin.
The passenger sitting next to Zhang saw what Zhang was doing.
Following the plane's landing, Zhang's companion went up to the victim and requested that he examine his backpack.
The passenger directed the victim toward Zhang once he realized that his credit card and cash were gone.
While Zhang's companion filed a police report, the victim confronted Zhang and banned his credit card.
Zhang was observed going to the bathroom many times before the police showed up.
Although Zhang was taken into custody later that evening, he did not disclose his actions about the victim's belongings, and the police were unable to retrieve them.
Zhang had collaborators aboard the Scoot flight, according to investigations. They were scheduled to spend two hours in Singapore before continuing on to Hong Kong, just like him.
In the past, Zhang denied taking the items and requested "proof" from the prosecution that he had done so.
Theft carries a maximum sentence of three years in prison, a fine, or both.
In March, the police presented the Public Spiritedness Award to the passenger who informed the victim of the theft.
Following the arrival of the flight, K Visvanathan provided "crucial information", leading to Zhang's arrest at Changi Airport Terminal 1.
Commander of Airport Police Division, Assistant Commissioner of Police M Malathi told CNA, "I would like to commend Visvanathan for his public-spiritedness."
"Such vigilance goes a long way in the swift detection and substantiation of such crimes, which are often challenging to uncover due to their transient nature," ACP added.
