SINGAPORE – The long-running television show Crimewatch was meant to educate the public on ways they could protect themselves from crime.

But in a twist of irony, it served as the source of inspiration that motivated three youths to hatch a plot to rob sex workers at knifepoint.

On Friday (June 28), both Theophileous Jebaraj, 16, and John Karan, 18, were convicted by the State Courts for the offence of committing an armed robbery by night.

The third co-accused, a 14-year-old, was convicted on May 15, but has yet to be sentenced and was not present in court. He cannot be named as he is a minor.

‘SAFER’ WAY TO ROB

Deputy Public Prosecutor Marshall Lim told the court that the trio met on the night of Sept 3 last year to discuss ways they could solve their “financial problems”.

The youngest of them suggested that they steal mobile phones, but Theophileous objected and said the “returns” were very low.

Instead, he counter-offered with his own suggestion. He told his fellow conspirators about an episode he saw on Crimewatch about the robbery of illegal sex workers in Singapore.

After some discussion, the trio agreed this plot would be the “safest” way to commit a crime as they would be preying on the sex workers’ “vulnerabilities and insecurities”, given the illicit nature of their work.  

All that was left was to find their mark. John volunteered by looking up a website that listed individuals who offered sexual services.

They narrowed down their list of targets to a Chinese national living in a rented apartment in Woodlands.

Two days later, they put their plan into action. Armed with knives, they knocked on their victim’s door at around 11.30pm on Sept 5.

Thinking that they were customers, the victim led them in and took Theophileous into a room.

While they were alone, he whipped out a fruit knife and pointed it at her as he demanded for money.

“In fear of instant death”, she offered no resistance and Theophileous pocketed about S$100 that she had stashed away in her cupboard and drawers.

As he emerged from the room, Theophileous instructed his companions to ransack the house for other valuables before fleeing the apartment.

It was not mentioned in court when the trio were caught, but Mr Lim said that the victim’s housemate, who is also her compatriot, lodged a police report about the armed robbery on Sept 9.

REPEAT OFFENDERS

Mr Lim told the court that it was “perverse” that John and Theophileous had “twisted” a public education programme and used it to motivate themselves to commit their offences. “The facts are pretty serious. They were not acting on the spur of the moment.”

John and Theophileous, who were both unrepresented, pleaded with the judge for leniency and said they wanted to apologise to the victim and make full restitution.

When asked by District Judge May Mesenas if they had informed the investigation officer of this, John replied that they had not.

The judge replied: “Well, all talk is as good as doing nothing.”

She added that the pair should have thought carefully before committing the offence as it was not the first time they had fallen afoul of the law.

During the period of the offence, Theophileous was on time leave from the Singapore Boys’ Home (SBH) and he had failed to return.  

He was serving an 18-month sentence at the home under a Juvenile Rehabilitation Centre (JRC) order that started on Oct 24, 2017. He was originally scheduled to be discharged on July 23 this year.

Mr Lim told TODAY that Theophileous had committed a variety of offences in the past that included voluntarily causing hurt, theft, outrage of modesty and the illegal discharge of fireworks.

As for John, he was undergoing probation at the time of the offence, but has since been ordered to undergo a stint at the SBH from Oct 16 last year to March 15, 2020 under a similar JRC order. 

He was previously convicted of theft and rioting.

DJ Mesenas said the pair were clearly not suitable for probation and has called for a Reformative Training Report. Both youths will be sentenced on July 18.