A Chinese national has been sentenced to 20 months in jail for stealing a fellow passenger's luggage on a Singapore Airlines flight from Dubai to Singapore.
Liu Ming, 26, pleaded guilty to one charge of theft. The court heard that he boarded the flight on 7 August with the specific intention of stealing high-value items from business class passengers. He was seated five rows in front of an Azerbaijani businessman and one row in front of the man's wife.
In the early hours of 8 August, after the dinner service and with cabin lights dimmed, Liu took the victim's bag from an overhead compartment while the man slept. The victim's wife woke up, confronted Liu, and alerted cabin crew. Liu claimed he had taken the bag by mistake, but his own bag was entirely different in appearance and material.
The victim's bag contained items valued at over S$100,000 (£57,625), including cash, a Huawei laptop, 56 cigars, a Chopard watch worth S$35,000, and an Audemars Piguet watch worth S$51,000. No items were missing due to the swift intervention of the victim's wife.
Liu was uncooperative during investigations, maintaining the theft was a mistake. Deputy public prosecutor Cheah Wenjie sought a 20-month sentence, arguing that theft on Singapore's national carrier could tarnish its reputation and the country's tourist industry.
