[Top: Mr James Tay's car which was scatched. The culprit was caught on CCTV on 24 Dec, as shown on Mr Tay's laptop.]

HE had to put CCTV cameras in his car to catch the culprit.

Mr James Tay had his car scratched five times last month.

Though he spotted the culprit in the act, he had no proof to hand over to the authorities.

So the taxi driver decided to spend $2,900 to install the CCTV in his car - and caught the culprit red handed at 5.15am on 24 Dec.

Armed with the footage, he has since lodged a magistrate complaint.

Mr Marcus Tan, managing director of EurekaPlus, a security company that does CCTV installation in cars, said such systems are powered by the car battery.

The footage is recorded on memory cards instead of hard disks, as the cards need less power.

Mr Tan said he receives four to five calls a week from customers wanting to install CCTV units in their cars.

He said: "It's quite a common problem in Singapore and happens not only in HDB estates, but also in private estates. Most of my customers say that having a CCTV has helped to deter others from vandalising their cars."

His company uses infra-red cameras. These can capture images in low light up to 3 metres away.

They record images only when motion is detected.

Typically, Mr Tan would recommend two sets of cameras - on the front windshield and on one side of the car - so as not to use up too much of the car battery.

He said: "The last thing we want is for the car battery to be flat when the driver wants to use the car."

Mr Tay was first alerted that his neighbour, a man in his 50s, was the culprit, when he took his neighbour's wife and son to see the scratches on his car.

Mr Tay said: "When (the son) said 'this is the work of my father,' I had the shock of my life.

"From that point, I kept a lookout for him."

He paid $2,980 for the spray painting of his car, and $1,500 to replace his windscreen, which had deep scratches.

But on 18 Dec, barely a week after he completed the repairs to his car, Mr Tay saw scratches on his car again.

This time, there were also two dents on his car bonnet.

The police advised him to install a CCTV in his car.

A week after he installed the CCTV, the culprit was caught by the camera when he struck again.

In all, Mr Tay said he has spent around $6,000 on the CCTV unit and on repairs to his car.

Mr Tay said: "I just want some justice, and I hope he can pay me some damages."

When The New Paper tried to speak to the neighbour's wife, she declined to talk and said she had "nothing to do" with the case.

A police spokesman confirmed that police reports were lodged and that they have advised Mr Tay on his legal recourse.

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This article was first published in The New Paper on Jan 17, 2009.

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