SINGAPORE — He had been caught for shoplifting at least four times before, but this did not deter Lim Yong Hwee from pilfering again after he was released from jail.

The 39-year-old unemployed man also got into a different sort of trouble this time, getting into an argument with a friend and then punching him in the face.

The punch caused Goh Khai Beng, 56, to fall and hit his head on the ground. He died in hospital the next day.

On Thursday (Aug 22), Lim pleaded guilty to three charges of causing hurt and theft in dwelling. He was sentenced to one year and 14 weeks’ jail, with an extra 12 days as he had breached a remission order for a previous conviction by stealing a mobile phone.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Zhou Yihong told the court that Lim had chalked up a string of convictions in the past two years. 

He was jailed for two weeks and fined S$500 in August 2017 for offences including shop theft, causing hurt and criminal intimidation. In December that year, he was jailed another six weeks for breaching a personal protection order, causing alarm and house trespass.

Last year, he was sent behind bars three times — all for shop theft.

STOLE PHONE, SHOES

The court heard that Lim committed several offences shortly after being released from prison for his last theft conviction.

On Dec 8 last year, he stole a Samsung mobile phone from the 81 Mobile shop along North Bridge Road. He had asked the salesperson about it, then took the phone on the shelf and ran off when the other man was serving another customer.

The salesperson caught up with him and managed to detain him. Lim was then arrested and released on bail.

However, he struck again a month later, on Jan 3 this year, at Mustafa Centre. A security guard noticed him putting a pair of old sports shoes into his bag, and that he was wearing a new pair from the department store.

THE FATAL ATTACK

About a week later, Lim committed another offence.

He had known Goh for about two months as they had both stayed at the National Addictions Management Service at the Institute of Mental Health, which provides treatment for people with addictions. They were both discharged from the centre in early December last year.

On Jan 10 this year, Lim lost money from gambling at Lorong 17 Geylang. After asking to borrow S$50 from Goh, the two men met at People’s Park Complex as Goh wanted to buy a new mobile phone.

They did not manage to find a suitable one even after walking around Sim Lim Square, Mustafa Centre and Race Course Road.

At about 8.40pm, outside the popular Banana Leaf Apolo restaurant, Lim told Goh that the shops in the vicinity offered the best prices and if Goh still found them expensive, it would be impossible to buy one elsewhere.

“The accused then commented that the deceased wanted the mobile phone to be cheap and good — as if the deceased wanted to drive a Mercedes Benz but was only willing to pay for the price of a Nissan car,” DPP Zhou said.

Goh got angry and said they should “settle” the matter at Geylang. When Goh took out his mobile phone, Lim assumed that he was trying to call for back-up.

Lim then punched Goh on the cheek, causing the latter to fall backwards and hit his head on the concrete ground. Lim then left in a taxi.

Goh was taken to Tan Tock Seng Hospital and he ultimately succumbed to his injuries at 11.30am the next day. A forensic pathologist certified his cause of death as a head injury.

While Lim’s lawyer, Mr Siraj Shaik Aziz from the Criminal Legal Aid Scheme, sought seven months’ jail for the charge of causing hurt, District Judge Hamidah Ibrahim said she could not ignore the fact that Lim committed his offences while out on bail.

DPP Zhou sought one year of jail for that charge, and 14 weeks for the two theft charges.

For causing hurt, Lim could have been jailed for up to two years, fined up to S$5,000, or both. For theft in dwelling, he could have been jailed for up to seven years and fined.