A 52-year-old man was convicted of vandalism and sentenced to four months of jail term after he took out the brunt of his "bad mood" on police cameras at HDB block and caused damage of S$980. The accused pleaded guilty to two counts of vandalism on Friday.
The man, Lin Sin Ann, was also convicted of other two charges during the sentencing, which included theft of a PAssion card. He confessed that he was in a bad temper in the morning of November 6, 2017, when he performed the rash action of burning three police cameras or POLCAMs at Block 212 Boon Lay Place.
The man had brought a stool from his apartment to get hold of the cameras, after which he lit some newspapers on fire and burnt them. To shield his face from the footage, he used an umbrella.
The POLCAMs were burnt and blackened and their recordings were blurred due to the vandal's actions, said Deputy Public Prosecutor Kayal Pillay, reports Channel NewsAsia.
According to authorities, each POLCAM cost S$327 to repair and the expense was borne by the Singapore Police Force. The convict made no efforts to compensate for his act of anger.
Lim has been given a three-month jail sentence for his actions, with an additional month in jail instead of caning, as Lim is above 50 years of age. The standard punishment for vandalism is S$2,000 fine or three years in jail with caning.
