A 32-year-old unemployed man who ran out of money after he fought with his parents over his unemployment decided to rob a minimart along Pasir Ris Street 11.

With a knife in a sling bag, Imran Zulkhifi entered the minimart in the wee hours of Feb. 1, 2023.

He placed the knife on the employee’s neck and demanded he hand over all the cash he had available.

Imran got away with S$580 but was arrested the next evening.

According to Shin Min Daily News, Imran was sentenced to three years and six months in jail and 12 strokes of the cane on Oct. 30, 2023, after pleading guilty to a charge of robbery.

Left home with S$150, left with $10 the next day

Investigations revealed that on Jan. 30, Imran fought with his parents over his unemployment.

They were unhappy that he always stayed home and didn’t look for work.

After the fight, he stormed out of the house after grabbing S$150 in cash.

Imran used the money to buy cigarettes and pay for his stay at an internet cafe.

By the next afternoon, he only had S$10 left on him.

Planned to kill minimart employee if he did not cooperate

He decided to rob for money and decided on the minimart as not only was he familiar with the area, he knew it would only have one employee late at night.

Imran planned to use a knife he had on him for the robbery. According to Shin Min, the court heard that Imran planned to kill the employee if the employee wouldn’t cooperate.

Before going ahead with his plan, Imran decided to scout out the police’s reaction time to plan his getaway.

He called the police and said he saw a suspicious-looking man wandering in a void deck near the minimart.

Imran timed how long it took for the police to arrive and calculated that he had around 30 minutes to escape.

Caught on CCTV

Shin Min reported that according to the CCTV footage played in court, Imran entered the minimart at around 1:46am.

He walked behind the employee, took out a knife from his sling bag, used his other arm to grab the employee from behind, and then placed the knife on the employee’s neck.

Imran then threatened the employee to hand over the shop’s money, or he would stick the knife into his neck.

The employee, frightened, gave Imran all the money he could find in the cash register.

After Imran escaped with the money, he threw away the black jacket he wore. However, the police managed to track him down and arrested him the following evening.

He only had S$276 left.

Employee traumatised

The prosecutor submitted for a sentence between three years and three months and four years, highlighting that the crime was premeditated.

The prosecutor also tendered a victim impact statement to the court, showing that the employee was traumatised after the incident and became paranoid.

According to the statement, there was an incident after the robbery where the employee hid under the counter just because he thought a customer was pointing his finger at him — but the customer was just holding his handphone.

Imran’s lawyer pleaded for a lighter sentence, pointing out that Imran had no criminal record and that the employee was not physically harmed.

Top image via Shin Min Daily News