SINGAPORE: A former part-time valet driver was jailed seven weeks on Thursday (Jan 28) for stealing a S$15,000 Hublot watch from a client who was drunk.
After he sold the watch in London for £4,000 (S$7,300), the valet’s father flew to Britain to buy it back and return it to the victim.
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Maheson Pillai Paneerselvam, 31, pleaded guilty to one charge of theft of a Hublot King Power Red Devil Manchester United watch from the floor of the victim’s car.
The court heard that Maheson was an airline steward who also provided valet driving services at the time of the offence.
At about 12.30am on Oct 11, 2019, the victim parked his car along Spottiswoode Park Road and left his watch at the gear area before going to drink at a nearby pub.
At about 2am, he was too drunk to drive home, so he engaged a valet service to drive him and his friend home. When Maheson got into the car, he saw the victim’s watch on the floor mat at the driver’s side.
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After dropping the victim off, he pocketed the watch before collecting his payment and leaving.
He later sold the watch to a secondhand shop in London for £4,000 and exchanged the cash to S$6,600.
The victim realised the next morning that his watch was missing and obtained Maheson’s particulars from the valet service company. He lodged a police report saying that his watch was missing, and Maheson was arrested on Oct 30, 2019.
He admitted to stealing the watch. His father went to London on Nov 13, 2019, and bought the watch back, returning it to the victim when he came back to Singapore.
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District Judge Marvin Bay told Maheson that he had exploited the trust of the victim, who was too drunk to drive.
The judge said he noted that Maheson’s father had taken the effort to buy the watch back from London.
“There is an exceptional effort to restore the watch to the victim,” said Judge Bay.
“This act to restore the watch to the victim, despite being after-the-fact, is conduct that should be encouraged and incentivised by due consideration in sentencing, as the watch may well have sentimental or intangible value over and beyond its monetary value. And the extraordinary measures taken to restore the watch to the victim must show as a genuine expression of remorse and contrition.”
However, he said he could not ignore the substantial value of the timepiece.
For theft, Maheson could have been jailed up to three years, fined, or both.
SINGAPORE: A former part-time valet driver was jailed seven weeks on Thursday (Jan 28) for stealing a S$15,000 Hublot watch from a client who was drunk.
