I was charged with cheating in Singapore Penal code 420-224, first time offenderafter taking a price tag of a shirt for another shirt. Any advice on the sentences and anything I should do? I was arrested by the police and their giving me 2 weeks probation...

Hi there, may I know what happened to you in the end?

I switched the label for 2 items (the difference was about 150$). When I was caught by the shop security I requested for lenient treatment but no use, the police arrested me under 420 and took me to Singapore Central Police station and I was kept there overnight while having to wait for my investigating officer to come and speak to me. In the end he came early in the morning (3-4am). In the mean time I was not allowed to even inform my family that I was arrested and the trauma they were undergoing whilst searching for a missing me was really weighing in on my mind.

The investigating officer was really intimidating but civil.. well considering my acts I could not expect anything better. He told me that he will recommend a warning instead of a charge if I was co-operative. I knew that this was an age old tactic of the police but then I realised that he probably has cctv footage and I had no way of escaping. I told him what exactly happened and expressed remorse to him. He told me that considering my first time offence there is a high probability that I would be given a warning, he was however categorical that the decision was not just his to make. He also told me that there was no point appointing a lawyer since I was not charged.

Time hardly moves when you are in a cell.. I was moved around cells frequently and was handcuffed all the time. I shared cells with hardened criminals but all cells had cctv and if any of my cell mates even spoke, the guards would appear at the door. The hours I spent in the cell were agonising as I worrying about my family, my future and the shame and uncertainty lying in front of me.

I was given watery tea and papery bread at 6 in the morning but I wolfed down both of them because I just needed something to divert me from the troubles I faced. The cell was air conditioned, had a toilet and drinking water, we could request for blankets but I did not do so, since I did not have the courage to ask the guards for anything. At about 630 prisoners are pulled up for a "bath" but I did not feel like being hosed down naked with cold water in front of my cell mates and I did not have a bath.

I was allowed a phone call to my friend by the investigating officer at 630 am and I was bailed out by my friend at 9am (there is a shift change at the central police station between 7 to 9 so bailors would be best advised to come before 7 or after 9).

I was asked to report 2 weeks later before the same police officer along with my bailor.

I enegaged a lawyer the same day since I did not want to take chances.

However god was good to me and I was called by my investigating officer exactly ten days from the happening of the incident. He told me to appear before him the next day and I will be warned instead of being charged.

The ten days were among the worst in my life and the prospect of losing all that I had worked hard for all my life kept me sleepless and listless..

In any case I have decided to do something for the society in turn for the mercy that god has shown me.. I will be volunteering for the aged and infirm.

I have also decided that taking the longer straight path is always worth it.