Indian-origin Singaporean jailed for petrol station robbery

September 27, 2019 08:53

An Indian-origin man in Singapore was jailed for 11.5 years after being convicted of robbery at a petrol station and admitting to drug consumption and possession, a media report said Friday.

Visvanathan Vadivelu, 50, had pleaded guilty to committing armed robbery at a Shell petrol station in Upper Bukit Timah Road in 2017, reported The Straits Times.

He had also admitted to two counts of drug consumption and one count of drug possession.

Visvanathan, who was unrepresented, told District Judge Kan Shuk Weng on Thursday that he was "mentally unwell" and that he fled from the court on September 17 after he "heard voices" telling him to go home.

He added that his mother later alerted police, who arrested him in their flat.

He was hauled back to court on September 19.

Visvanathan told Judge Kan that he wanted to be "sentenced" to the Institute of Mental Health.

She replied that being sent to IMH is not a sentencing option.

He robbed a petrol station on July 31, 2017, as he was "desperate for money". He was unemployed at the time. -- PTI

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