British man charged in Singapore two years after alleged theft at airport

Singapore has charged a British man for theft more than two years after he allegedly stole a denim jacket from a store at the airport shopping mall.

Key points

• Surveillance footage indicated a man removing the jacket, worth concerning S$350 ($275; £202), from the mannequin and leaving the store without making payment.
• The 26-year-old was arrested on 15 August this year while in transit at the airport and was charged on Tuesday.
• "Offenders should not assume that they can evade detection simply by leaving Singapore after committing an offence, " the Singapore Police Force remarked in an official note on Monday.
• She was arrested in the transit area shortly before she was scheduled to depart Singapore.
• Those convicted of theft in Singapore face up to seven years in jail.

For context, the police were alerted to the theft in the evening of 14 August 2024 when a retail assistant at Singapore's Changi Airport realised a blue denim jacket was missing from a display mannequin.

Surveillance footage indicated a man removing the jacket, worth concerning S$350 ($275; £202), from the mannequin and leaving the store without making payment. By the time the authorities established his identity, the man had departed Singapore.

Meanwhile, the 26-year-old was arrested on 15 August this year while in transit at the airport and was charged on Tuesday.

The police take a serious stance of shop theft and will accord firmly with offenders in accordance with the law.

In its statement the police additionally recounted a separate arrest of a 50-year-old Polish woman who had stolen two bottles of perfume from retail stores inside one of the airport's terminals on 11 June this year.

She was arrested in the transit area shortly before she was scheduled to depart Singapore. The woman was charged with two counts of theft on Tuesday.

Taken together, the developments around british man charged in Singapore two years after alleged theft at airport point to a situation that is still moving, and the coming days should bring more clarity.