Jail for man who made 1,035 calls to neighbourhood police centres for ‘fun’

SINGAPORE - Over more than a week, a man used a SIM card registered under a foreign worker’s name to make 1,035 calls to four neighbourhood police centres (NPCs) for “fun and enjoyment”.

Between April 21 and 29, Foo Jia Hong, a Singaporean, made 425 calls to Yishun NPC, 308 calls to Bedok NPC, 278 calls to Geylang NPC, and 24 calls to Ang Mo Kio NPC.

Foo, 37, was sentenced to 23 days’ jail on Aug 26 after pleading guilty to one count of voluntarily obstructing police officers from carrying out their duties by making the calls to Yishun NPC.

Three similar charges involving the other NPCs were considered during sentencing.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Ng Jun Kai told the court Foo had found a SIM card within a second-hand mobile phone cover which he had bought in Ang Mo Kio in early 2026.

He used the card to call the NPCs and would remain silent when officers answered them.

They answered 330 of the 425 calls made to Yishun NPC, while the remaining ones were not picked up.

Court documents did not state how many calls were answered at the other NPCs.

The unanswered calls blocked the phone lines as subsequent calls had to be put on hold in a queue. This prevented them from being answered by the NPCs.

The number Foo had used was traced to telecommunication service provider Simba, and it was registered under a foreign worker’s name.

The worker told the authorities he had thrown away the SIM card linked to the phone number.

Court documents did not disclose what happened next, but police arrested Foo on May 11.

On Aug 26, the DPP said Foo, who has mild intellectual disability, also has autism spectrum disorder.

The DPP urged the court to sentence Foo to up to five weeks’ jail, stressing that the Institute of Mental Health had found no contributory links between these conditions and his offence.

The prosecutor said by using a SIM card registered in another person’s name, it made it more difficult for the police to identify the culprit. And it caused the foreign worker to be investigated.

Defence lawyer Daniel Atticus Xu, however, pleaded for Foo to be given two weeks’ jail, adding his client had contacted the NPCs and not dialled 999 - the public emergency hotline.

Shaffiq Alkhatib is The Straits Times’ court correspondent, covering mainly criminal cases heard at the State Courts.