Australian man caught shoplifting at Singapore’s Changi Airport

Officers from the Airport Police Division were alerted to the theft on March 17 at about 9:45 a.m. after the two windbreakers were found missing from the display shelf of a retail outlet in Terminal 1’s transit area, Stomp reported.

Using CCTV footage, police identified the man, who was allegedly seen leaving the store without paying, and arrested him before he could board his flight out of Singapore. The stolen items were recovered from his possession, the Singapore Police Force said in a statement.

The man is scheduled to appear in court on March 25 to face a charge of theft in dwelling under Section 380 of Singapore’s Penal Code 1871, which carries a penalty of up to seven years in prison, a fine, or both.

The arrest follows a pattern of shoplifting cases involving Australian nationals at Changi. In September 2025, a 45-year-old Australian man was detained within an hour of stealing items worth more than S$2,600 from eight different shops during a single visit to the transit area, according to Singapore police. He had taken sunglasses, bags, a water bottle, luggage, a passport case, keychains and accessories without paying. He was sentenced to 10 days in jail after pleading guilty to three of 10 theft charges.

Three months earlier, in June 2025, the same man had been arrested for stealing cosmetics and perfume worth S$659 from the Shilla Duty Free store in Terminal 1 on two separate occasions in the same day, police said.

Singapore police warned that offenders should not assume they can avoid detection by leaving the country shortly after committing such crimes, adding that they will continue working with airport stakeholders to prevent and deter shop theft at Changi.