Man with uniform fetish jailed for stealing police jacket, bag in Singapore
By Carl Samson
July 12, 2023
A Singaporean man with a “fetishistic interest” in service uniforms has been sentenced to two weeks in jail for stealing a police officer’s jacket in 2019 and another officer’s bag last year.
What he did: Lam Seng Yip, 52, first swiped an unattended traffic jacket at around 9 p.m. on Sept. 20, 2019, while an officer responded to an accident at the intersection of Buangkok Green Road and Yio Chu Kang Road. The officer left the jacket on his motorcycle, which he parked nearby.
Lam had already passed by the bike but returned half an hour later to grab the jacket costing 140 Singapore dollars (approximately $105), which reportedly had a name tag and a sergeant rank epaulet. After being noticed and pursued, he was arrested before midnight.
A history of theft: This is not the first time Lam was arrested for stealing objects from law enforcement. In a separate incident in 2019, he was convicted of stealing operational items from police and traffic marshals.
In June 2022 — three years after stealing the jacket — Lam targeted another busy officer’s car, which was parked in front of Block 171 at Woodlands Street 11. Realizing that the windows were down, Lam grabbed a bag, ran away with it and booked a private car back to his home.
The operational bag contained items worth over 380 Singapore dollars (approximately $286), including a police cap, a police vest, a police raincoat, reflective gloves, a driver’s license, a wallet and some credit cards. Lam was arrested the next day and the items were recovered.
Why he did it all: Lam pleaded guilty to two charges of theft in connection with the latest incidents in December. Prosecutors sought a maximum sentence of eight weeks in jail, but a judge lowered it to two weeks on Tuesday.
A report from Singapore’s Institute of Mental Health stated that Lam had been diagnosed with “sadomasochistic and fetishistic interests amounting to a paraphilic disorder,” primarily seeking clothing from uniformed services, according to CNA. He was given a mandatory treatment order after his conviction in 2019, but details of that order are unknown.
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