A construction worker who was carrying out upgrading work at an HDB flat, but ended up molesting a 20-year-old student who lived there, was yesterday jailed for seven months after losing his appeal.

Bangladeshi national Khalek Abdul, 36, had contested a charge of outraging the victim's modesty by kissing her on the neck and grabbing her breast at her Yishun flat at around noon on July 14 last year. No one else was home at the time.

Khalek did not deny physical contact with the victim but claimed he had touched her accidentally.

During his trial in February, he testified that he had tripped on the wire of his electric drill and fell on her. He said he did not know which part of her body he had touched, or whether his lips had touched her neck.

In April, he was found guilty and handed a seven-month jail term by a district judge who did not believe his version of events. Khalek, represented by Mr S.K. Kumar, appealed against the conviction and sentence yesterday, but the High Court was similarly not persuaded.

Khalek's job was to install grab bars in the toilets of the victim's flat as part of an upgrading project.

The victim testified that after he had finished, Khalek asked her to help unplug the drill from the socket in the master bedroom. As she did so, he stood close behind and rubbed himself against her.

After she pushed him away, Khalek held out his hand. The handshake led to a hug that went on for "a bit too long", so she pulled away and gestured for him to leave the room.

After exiting, Khalek gestured towards the study, which had a mattress, and asked her: "You want?"

At this point, the victim said she felt "something was really wrong" and led him to the main door.

At the door, Khalek held his arms open for another hug. She hugged him, thinking it would make him leave. But as she moved back, he kissed the side of her neck and grabbed her breast. The victim said she felt "assaulted, very clearly offended and kind of terrified".

As she closed the door, Khalek told her to call him if there was anything wrong. After making sure he was gone, she called her father, who called the police.

Khalek was arrested later that day and admitted that he hugged and kissed the victim and touched her breast. He sought forgiveness and asked to be given a chance.

However, during his trial, he alleged that he had been threatened into making these admissions by the Bengali interpreter.

These claims were dismissed by the district judge after hearing from the interpreter.

Yesterday, Deputy Public Prosecutor Tan Soo Tet asked the court to dismiss Khalek's appeal, noting that the victim was a "cogent, credible and consistent" witness who had given a candid account without embellishment.

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This article was first published on Dec 29, 2016.
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He was 15 when he raped a 13-year- old girl after having seen an alleged gang leader sexually assault her.

Alson Tan Yu Seng assaulted the victim with the help of two others who held her down.

The 18-year-old full-time national serviceman yesterday pleaded guilty to three of six charges - statutory rape and two counts of rioting, one committed while he was out on bail.

The remaining three charges, including a second rape of the victim, will be taken into consideration when he is sentenced.

The case against the other two is pending.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Sruthi Boppana said one of them, Tan Wei Guang, 19, had come to know the victim through Facebook and knew she had developed feelings towards him.

Alson Tan met the alleged gang leader, Koh Rong Guang, now 24, in the latter part of 2013.

On an occasion towards the end of that year, Alson Tan was with Koh and two others near Yew Tee Foodfare Food Court.

Koh had phoned the victim to meet them there.

Koh took her away from the rest and allegedly raped her, an act which the others saw. He told everyone to keep quiet about it.

According to investigations, on one night in December not long afterwards, the victim went looking for Tan Wei Guang while he was at a basketball court in Bukit Panjang with Alson Tan and a third friend, Bryan Ong Jing Chong, 18.

Afterwards, the four of them went to Alson Tan's flat in Block 623, Senja Road, where the assault occurred.

Alson Tan, who had witnessed the previous assault on the victim, raped her while the other two pinned her down.

The victim lodged a police report on July 5, 2014.

District Judge Mathew Joseph told Alson Tan's counsel S.K. Kumar that his client would be facing a minimum eight years and 12 strokes if he was tried as an adult.

He called for a reformative training report and postponed sentencing to Jan 25.

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This article was first published on Jan 05, 2017.
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He acted like a friendly neighbour, offering to buy ice cream for the young girl.

But driver Rosli Hassan, 55, lifted the eight-year-old girl's dress and then gave her money for ice cream to buy her silence.

He was jailed for four months yesterday after pleading guilty to committing an indecent act with a child on Aug 14 last year.

The court heard that Rosli, who was the victim's neighbour, had gone to her home that evening, proffering packets of ice, which the girl's mother declined.

He then offered to buy the victim ice cream and asked that she come by his flat later.

The child asked her mother for permission before going to Rosli's flat.

When she arrived, Rosli opened the door, wearing a towel wrapped around his waist.

He told the girl to sit on the sofa in the living room and asked if she was wearing diapers, to which she said no.

Rosli then lifted her dress with his hand but did not touch her. Scared, she quickly pulled her dress down.

He then gave her $4 to buy ice cream and she left.

The girl bought ice cream for herself and her siblings, which amounted to $1.80.

She returned the change to Rosli by placing the money on the shoe rack outside his unit.

The victim told her mother about the incident when she got home.

Both then went to Rosli's flat to confront him and returned the ice cream before the mother called the police.

Rosli could have been fined up to $10,000 and/or jailed for up to five years for committing an indecent act with a child.

elena@sph.com.sg

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This article was first published on Jan 05, 2017.
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He did not think his revolver would fire when he toyed with the weapon while on duty as an auxiliary police officer at the Tuas Checkpoint.

On the second day of his trial for committing a rash act to endanger human life, Gregory Lai Kar Jun, 23, who used to be a Certis Cisco corporal, admitted yesterday that he had pointed the revolver towards the ground and squeezed the trigger, causing one round to be fired.

When District Judge Hamidah Ibrahim asked if he had chosen to take the risk, Lai pondered over the question for around 10 seconds before replying: "Yes."

Lai, who is now a GrabCar driver, is accused of firing the revolver at the checkpoint at around 2pm on Aug 13, 2015.

He also faces a charge of intentionally obstructing the course of justice, by hiding the discharged round in a traffic wand. Then, to cover his tracks, he allegedly threw a second bullet into a toilet at the checkpoint, so that it would appear that he had lost two rounds.

He faces a third charge of lying to a policeman about the bullets the next day.

Lai told the court yesterday that he had placed one round inside his revolver on Aug 13. He said a colleague, Muhammad Dzul Adhar Azmi, 22, saw him do this.

In his police statement on Aug 19, 2015, Lai said: "What I know is that if the round was at the 12 o'clock point, it would come off but what I did not know was that if the round was at the 2 o'clock point, it would also come off."

In that same statement, Lai said he had put the bullet in the gun at the "2 o'clock point".

Lai said he and Dzul were shocked when the bullet was fired.

They looked for the discharged round and Lai found part of it under a table about an hour later. Lai said he came up with the cover-up plan.

He said in his statement: "At about 4pm or 5pm, I took the expended bullet and hid it in the traffic wand, the battery compartment, for the meantime first while Dzul watched me.

"Dzul then helped me bring it out but what time he brought it out and disposed of it, I do not know."

Lai said he then threw a second bullet in the toilet.

"I then reported to Ops Room that I lost two bullets," he added.

In his statement, Lai also admitted that he did not know what he was thinking when he decided to play with the weapon.

Dzul was jailed for three weeks and fined $2,000 on Oct 21 last year, after he pleaded guilty to intentionally obstructing the course of justice and failing to inform the police about the rash act that Lai allegedly committed.

The trial continues today with the prosecution set to question Lai over his testimony. If found guilty of intentionally obstructing the course of justice, Lai faces up to seven years in jail and a fine.

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This article was first published on Jan 11, 2017.
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A woman's rape claim last year sparked a police probe which lasted about seven hours before she admitted she had lied to cover up the fact that she had casual sex.

Esther Chua, 30, was sentenced to a detention order of two weeks to be served in jail, which means that she will not have a criminal record, despite spending time behind bars.

In deciding on the detention order, District Judge Low Wee Ping said in his judgment grounds issued last week that the difference between imprisonment and a detention order is "significant".

Chua, who had a boyfriend at the time, said she had lied to cover up the casual sex she had with someone she met just hours earlier.

She had told police last May that six men were involved in the incident, which allegedly took place at about 4am on May 10, behind an HDB lift lobby in Telok Blangah Crescent.

The tale led police to check closed-circuit television camera footage and screen phone records.

Chua was also interviewed by officers of the Serious Sexual Crime Branch, where her fake story about one man forcing sex on her while five others in the same gang kept a lookout unravelled, within seven hours of her initial report.

Chua explained that she had made up the story to cover up for the consensual sex she had with a person named "Mackie".

She said she had met Mackie and drank alcohol with him prior to the alleged incident. While walking towards her block, she ran into a group of six men.

Chua admitted that she and Mackie ignored the group and went to the back alley near the HDB block, where they had sex.

She said she was worried that she might have been impregnated, and would have difficulty explaining it to her boyfriend, so she decided to come up with the fake story.

At issue before Judge Low was the kind of sentence Chua, who was described as having an unnamed mental condition, should get.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Muhammad Zulhafni asked for a short jail term.

Her lawyer Raphael Louis urged the court to impose a maximum two-week detention order instead.

This would mean that Chua would not have a criminal record, thus helping with her "redemption", Mr Louis said.

"It's already hard for her to get a job because of her mental condition and if she has a criminal record, Your Honour, it'll be really difficult for her to move on with her life."

Mr Louis said Chua did not lie out of malice, and added that she was not "on a vendetta, going after somebody and lying about it".

"She met this guy on the same day. She was intoxicated. Her judgment was impaired. She thought she was raped," the lawyer said.

Judge Low accepted that "significantly, the accused did not commit this offence out of malice".

"This court was persuaded by the accused's several mitigating factors. The accused was a divorcee and had to give up custody of her only child. According to Mr Raphael Louis, the accused 'faces the guilt of not providing, or giving, her best as a mother'."

The judge said the court also appreciated that Chua had taken positive steps to get help, and that psychiatrists and professionals at the Institute of Mental Health confirmed she was "on the right path".

The prosecution is appealing against the two-week detention order.

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This article was first published on Jan 11, 2017.
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He molested a 14-year-old schoolgirl in a lift in 2012 but was never caught.

Four years later, Dexter Louis Wong, 35, molested another teenager in a Housing Board lift lobby near where he lived and was arrested a day later.

He then admitted to the offence committed in 2012.

Yesterday, Wong, an unemployed father of one, was sentenced to five years' jail and 10 strokes of the cane for molesting the two girls.

A second count of molesting the younger victim was taken into consideration.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Michael Quilindo said Wong had trailed the older 17-year-old victim to her lift lobby, in the eastern part of Singapore, on Sept 10 last year without her knowledge.

He got into the lift with her and got out when she did.

He then grabbed her neck from behind and molested her.

She screamed but could not get away.

Wong then fled, and the victim ran home and told her mother.

Knowing the police would be looking for him, Wong removed his shirt before he ran up the staircase to his flat nearby to escape detection from the closed-circuit television cameras in the area.

For the earlier case, the court heard that Wong was out jogging on Nov 14, 2012, when he saw the 14-year-old girl and decided to follow her into the lift at her block.

He molested her before he ran out of the lift on the 10th floor, but he came back when he realised that there was no staircase for him to make an escape.

As the lift went up, he molested the victim again.

Getting out on the 14th floor, she pressed the call button on the lift landing to prevent the door from closing, and Wong from fleeing.

But he got away by pushing her to the ground.

An Institute of Mental Health report on Wong stated that there was "considerable risk that (he) may reoffend. It is of concern that he chooses to target vulnerable subjects such as schoolgirls".

His lawyer, Mr Edmond Pereira, said the accused had committed the offences "out of despair and frustration" but added: "We agree that this is no excuse for his actions."

Wong could have been jailed for up to 10 years and caned on each charge.

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This article was first published on Jan 13, 2017.
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The prosecution is pushing for a five-month jail term for a 28-year-old man who yesterday pleaded guilty to defaulting on his national service (NS) for a decade.

Not only did Jonathan Tan Huai En reap the benefit of his Singapore citizenship by completing his primary education here, but he also never took any concrete action to renounce his citizenship, despite moving to Canada and becoming a citizen there, the prosecution argued.

But his lawyer urged the court to impose a fine or a community- based sentence instead, saying Tan could not return any earlier because his mother was suffering from a psychiatric condition.

Tan had stayed overseas without a valid exit permit from Dec 22, 2004 until May 4, 2015.

He, his younger brother, their older sister and their mother had migrated to Canada on Dec 1, 2000, with no intention of returning to Singapore.

However, Tan's father remained here, due to a lack of employment opportunities overseas.

Between Dec 1, 2005 and June 30, 2006, three letters were sent to their Singapore address, asking Tan to register for NS.

When Tan still failed to turn up, officers from the Central Man- power Base (CMPB) went to the home in October and November of 2006.

In the middle of 2009, Tan's father called CMPB to say his son wanted to renounce his Singapore citizenship.

About two months later, the father sent CMPB a letter from his lawyers, stating this again.

But CMPB replied to say that Tan had to serve his NS first.

It also said that he had been classified as a defaulter and urged him to return as soon as possible.

But as the elder son of the family, Tan said he was effectively the "man of the household", who was obliged to take care of his younger brother, now 25, and mother.

His mother began psychiatric treatment for depression in Vancouver in October 2008.

Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Houston Johannus said: "The simple fact of the matter is that it was always open for Tan's mother to return ... so that she would be properly cared for in Singapore by his father or their relatives."

From 2010, Tan's mother also seemed well enough to allow him to start working, the DPP said.

He also noted that Tan applied for and received a Singapore NRIC when he returned to Singapore on May 5, 2015 .

"It is submitted that this further affirms the accused's intention to hold onto his Singapore citizenship and enjoy the privileges it brings," said the DPP.

However, Tan's lawyer, Ms Josephine Choo, argued that he did not have an NRIC because he had left Singapore when he was 12 years old, and needed to get one so that he could serve NS.

Tan finally enlisted for NS on Jan 8.

He is expected to be sentenced on Feb 2.

His brother, who has also returned to Singapore after defaulting on NS, will be dealt with separately.

ashaffiq@sph.com.sg

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This article was first published on Jan 14, 2017.
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A woman perpetrated various scams against 18 victims and conned them out of a total of about $551,000 over 31/2 years.

Only $9,642 of the losses has been recovered, a district court heard.

Anita Siah Siang Joo, now 31, committed 123 cheating offences between February 2012 and November 2015, which began after her release from prison for criminal breach of trust.

She had been given 12 months' jail in 2010 for misappropriating $113,078.

Yesterday, Siah, labelled a serial cheat by the prosecution, was sentenced to 59 months' jail after she admitted to 20 charges.

She perpetrated sales scams involving the sale of electronic gadgets and travel packages, and investment scams involving fictitious brokerage, iPhone and contact-lens businesses.

Among her victims were a 35-year-old Singaporean woman, who was conned out of $264,650, and a 28-year-old man, who lost $196,200.

In April 2011, Siah approached the woman about investing in a business buying and reselling iPhones.

She claimed she had a supplier from whom they could buy the phones cheaply and resell the gadgets overseas for a higher price.

In fact, she did not have a supplier nor did she intend to use the victim's money to buy iPhones.

Instead, she intended to induce the victim to deliver money to her for her own use.

Believing that she was investing in the business, the victim delivered a total of $169,250 to Siah's bank accounts on five occasions.

When the victim did not receive any profit and asked for her money back, Siah gave her various excuses.

Siah also scammed the woman the following year by making her pay $2,800 for an exclusive travel package to the Maldives.

The victim was made to transfer further sums when Siah lied that there were "various problems'' with the booking.

For each charge, Siah could have been jailed up to 10 years and fined.

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This article was first published on Jan 14, 2017.
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A security guard punched his teenage daughter multiple times one evening for missing a night cycling event he had signed her up for.

The accused had subjected the 14-year-old student and her stepmother, aged 50, to physical threats and violent abuse daily for at least seven years, a court heard.

The 43-year-old was sentenced to 15 months' jail for repeatedly punching his daughter on her chest, abdomen, left upper arm, shoulders and face at their Commonwealth home on Dec 18, 2015.

Another charge of trying to poke her abdomen with a mechanical pencil, punching her a few times, and kicking her on the head after she fell, was taken into consideration during sentencing.

The accused cannot be named to protect the identity of the victim.

When the accused returned home after work that day reeking of alcohol, he started shouting at his wife, Deputy Public Prosecutor Tang Shangjun said.

Although the victim wanted to call the police, she did not dare to but ran out in fear with her stepmother.

They returned home after he apologised. At home, he grilled his daughter about missing the cycling event while she kept silent.

He then punched her on her abdomen, arm and chest as well as her face and mouth area, causing her to bleed from the mouth.

He continued to hit her even as his wife pleaded with him to stop.

He told the victim to call the night cycling organiser so that she could still turn up for the event.

Out of fear, she pretended to do so, and left the flat with her stepmother.

The accused's wife called the Ministry of Social and Family Development and reported the incident.

The girl was taken to KK Women's and Children's Hospital with a 1.5cm-long mark on her forehead and a 3.5cm-long scar on her arm.

The accused had a previous conviction in 2004 for breaching a personal protection order.

DPP Tang said the accused had transformed the home which is supposed to be a sanctuary of peace into a place of "senseless violence".

District Judge Low Wee Ping labelled the accused a bully, saying what he had done was "extremely cruel" and "depraved''.

"I will not be wrong to say you tortured her, and gave her a life of terror. Your wife was also terrorised on that particular night. She did not know what to do.

"She cannot even stop you and I agree with the learned prosecutor your violence was sustained, alcohol-driven," he said.

Pleading for leniency, the accused said he was remorseful, sorry and ashamed.

He promised never to repeat the offence.

He could have been fined up to $4,000 and/or jailed for up to four years for ill-treating a young person under his custody.

elena@sph.com.sg

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This article was first published on Jan 20, 2017.
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A serial cheat tricked his victim of about $463,000 over a period of seven months by cooking up stories of his mother being terminally ill, his daughter being kidnapped overseas, his mistress threatening to expose their affair, and his brother embezzling money.

Kelvin Kwan Ban Hock, 30, was a fitness trainer for civil servant Goh Wee Hou, 37, when he committed 40 cheating offences between August 2012 and March 2013.

Yesterday, Kwan was sentenced to a total of five years and two months' jail after he admitted to 15 counts of cheating as well as drug consumption and possession.

Assistant Public Prosecutor Thiagesh Sukumaran said the two men got to know each other in 2010, developed a close friendship after some time and began meeting outside the gym as well.

Kwan then began asking Mr Goh for money to deal with his personal and family problems, and the latter obliged.

"These claims were false and were designed to gain sympathy from the victim," said the prosecutor.

Between Oct 8 and 9, 2012, Kwan claimed his brother had gambled away $10,000 meant for his own school fees while trying to win money for their mother's medical expenses for leukaemia.

Read also: How to spot an investment scam

Mr Goh gave him $10,000 in cash, followed by another $74,000 that year after Kwan claimed that his mother was undergoing operations in Singapore and France.

Kwan also deceived the victim into giving him $16,000 to repay a loan from his girlfriend "June", who had threatened to inform his wife of their extramarital affair.

In December 2012, Kwan claimed his bone marrow was diagnosed as failing and he needed help with his medical expenses.

Mr Goh gave him $17,200.

Mr Goh also gave at least $80,000 to Kwan to cover his brother's alleged embezzlement case in February 2013.

Between March 25 and 27, 2013, Kwan told Mr Goh his daughter had been kidnapped in Hanoi, Vietnam and managed to get a loan of $32,000 for an alleged US$200,000 ransom.

Kwan was arrested at Changi Airport on June 10 last year. He was found to have taken methamphetamine or Ice, and had a cannabis mixture in his possession.

APP Sukumaran said Kwan had borrowed moneyfor his overspending and gambling.

District Judge Wong Li Tein said the offences were all "opportunistic".

She said Kwan had got himself into this mess and should not expect any leniency from the court as he had taken advantage of the victim's kindness and generosity. No restitution has been made.

Kwan could have been jailed for up to 10 years and fined on each charge of cheating.

Read also: Smart, but scammed

Love scam landed her in debt after she was cheated of $1.2m

elena@sph.com.sg

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This article was first published on Jan 24, 2017.
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His fellow cabby pushed, punched and even taunted him.

Furious, Choo Ng Lye Choon , 65, lashed out at Mr Lim See Ann, 47, with a blade and cut him.

Yesterday, Choo was sentenced to one week's jail and a $2,500 fine after pleading guilty in a district court to causing hurt on grave and sudden provocation.

Choo was originally charged with causing hurt with a weapon, which carries a jail term of up to seven years.

But the charge was reduced as the victim was the initial aggressor.

The men were driving their respective vehicles along Beach Road near The Concourse at around 3am on April 22 last year when Mr Lim suddenly cut in front of Choo and stopped.

Court documents did not specify any accident.

But Mr Lim asked Choo for an unspecified amount as compensation, though there was no visible damage on both vehicles.

When Choo refused, Mr Lim turned aggressive and pushed his left shoulder twice.

He then removed Choo's vehicle key from the ignition but the latter managed to snatch it back.

After Mr Lim challenged him to a fight, Choo went to the passenger side of his taxi and retrieved a Swiss Army knife with a 6.5cm blade.

Choo did not brandish the weapon at the other cabby, but pleaded with him to stop bothering him.

However, Mr Lim continued pestering Choo for compensation and punched Choo on his left cheek.

Said Deputy Public Prosecutor Teo Lu Jia: "Choo came out of the taxi with the Swiss Army knife. Both of them then continued arguing with each other.

"Mr Lim challenged Choo and taunted Choo, saying that Choo was old and that he could beat Choo up."

Furious, Choo used the knife to stab and slash Mr Lim's upper body.

Another cabby who happened to be driving by broke up the fight.

Mr Lim was taken to hospital with wounds on his neck, chest, left upper arm and right hand.

He was warded for one day and given 15 days of hospitalisation leave.

Mr Lim received a police warning for his role in the fight.

Choo is out on $15,000 bail. He will start his sentence on Feb 13.

ashaffiq@sph.com.sg

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This article was first published on Jan 24, 2017.
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Taking advantage of an app that allows people to secretly record videos on their phones, a 29-year-old man took 39 upskirt videos of women at various places - from supermarkets to MRT stations.

For his upskirt spree over 16 months, Jezreel Rigor Paguio was yesterday jailed for 16 weeks.

The assistant building information modelling coordinator pleaded guilty to 10 counts of insulting the modesty of a woman.

Another 29 charges were considered during sentencing.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Dwayne Lum told the court that the Filipino had downloaded an application called Secret Video Recorder on his HTC phone.

It let him record videos in the background while using his phone as usual.

A 23-year-old woman caught him in the act on July 7 last year and informed the passenger control staff at Botanic Gardens MRT station in Bukit Timah Road.

Paguio had turned on the video recording app on his phone before placing it on top of his bag.

He placed the bag and phone under her dress.

When the victim confronted him, he denied doing anything wrong. She grabbed his phone and went to the passenger control station, whose staff called the police.

The court also heard how a month earlier, he was at Junction 8's FairPrice outlet when he turned on the app and put the phone in a shopping basket, which he then placed under a woman wearing a dress.

He repeated his act four minutes later on the same victim.

DPP Lum said in his sentencing submissions that there were three aggravating factors.

"This is not one of the impulsive or opportunistic upskirt cases. There was a level of pre-meditation and the method of offending," he said.

The prosecutor also pointed out the high number of charges and the time period - Paguio appeared at the very least to have taken videos from March 2015 to July last year, he said.

Paguio could have been jailed for up to a year and/or fined on each charge of insulting modesty.

elena@sph.com.sg

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This article was first published on Jan 28, 2017.
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A former mobile phone shop worker conspired to extort US$250,000 (S$352,000) from his friend's fiancee after a money exchange deal went sour.

Yesterday, Benjamin Ling Jialiang, 26, was jailed for two years with one stroke of the cane, after he pleaded guilty to scheming with two women - Fong Ling Ling, 46, and Judy Wee Aye Fong, 52 - to extort the money.

Ling, the first of the trio to be dealt with, committed the crime in Singapore on Feb 23 last year.

It all started with a supposed currency exchange involving 25 million Venezuelan bolivars (S$3.5 million).

Wee knew a Chinese national named Huang Dong, who wanted to change the money into either US or Singapore currency.

Huang, based in China, asked intermediaries, including Ling, to help him - in return for a commission.

Wee then allegedly introduced Ling's friend, Mr Kenneth Ng Chee How, 28, to Huang.

Later, a Malaysian moneylender named Ali also got involved in the plan. He agreed to change the 25 million bolivars into US$1 million (S$1.4 million).

This amount was then supposed to be shared among the people involved, including Ling, Wee and Mr Ng, with Huang's share at US$250,000.

But Ali disappeared with the bolivars after he got the cash.

Mr Ng and his brother Gabriel Ng Chia How, 27, went to Penang on Feb 21 last year to find Ali. When they arrived there the next day, they were bundled into a car and held captive at Georgetown Hotel.

Two men introduced themselves to the brothers as debt collectors, and told them to pay US$250,000.

"Kenneth Ng was then instructed to contact any persons who could provide US$250,000, in exchange for the release of Gabriel Ng and himself," said Deputy Public Prosecutor Christine Liu.

Mr Kenneth Ng called his father and his fiancee, Ms Crystal Lim Chew Kwan, 30, for help.

It is unclear if Huang was behind the Penang abductions, but DPP Liu told the court that Huang had asked Wee to contact Ms Lim for the money. Ling was present during the call.

Ling, Wee and Fong were arrested on Feb 24 last year in a joint operation between Singapore and Malaysian police.

The Ng brothers were rescued unharmed, with no money delivered.

Ling could have been jailed for up to five years and caned.

Huang remains at-large.

ashaffiq@sph.com.sg

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This article was first published on Feb 07, 2017.
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A plastic surgeon was fined a total of $13,000 on Monday for installing a spyware program on his laptop to intercept data belonging to his then wife, and unlawfully accessing data in the Singapore General Hospital's (SGH) computer system.

Leo Kah Woon, 42, was with SGH when he committed three offences, including accessing the hospital's computer system to search for information on his wife's alleged lover, Mr Ang Choo Pin, 38, in 2012.

Leo and Ms Nellie Tan Li Khoon, 39, who have two children, have since divorced.

Ms Tan was recently fined $3,500 for abetting a private investigator to unlawfully access Leo's Asus laptop on Dec 18, 2012.

The court heard that Leo evicted his wife from their matrimonial home in September 2012 after he suspected her of having an affair.

Leo had installed a keylogging software in his MacBook Pro computer shared with his wife to capture the keystrokes and take periodic screenshots when she used the computer, and sent the information to his e-mail account.

Using the software, he intercepted without authority the functions of the laptop relating to his wife's communications.

She became upset when he alluded to private information from her e-mails and chats on several occasions.

He had used the information for their divorce proceedings in the Family Court.

Ms Tan's suspicions about the interception were confirmed when she sent the laptop to be checked.

Relating the facts of the unauthorised access to the SGH system, Deputy Public Prosecutor April Phang said sometime in September 2012, Leo suspected Mr Ang was having an affair with his wife.

Leo found out more about Mr Ang's wife, identifying her as Ms Xu. He got her contact details from the SGH system, and passed her mobile number to his sister.

He told his sister to call Ms Xu and claim they had photographic evidence from a private eye and SMS evidence that Mr Ang had an affair.

Ms Xu came to know about her husband's infidelity from that call.

Mr Ang subsequently lodged complaints with the Singapore Medical Council (SMC) and the police that Leo had abused the SGH system to obtain personal information, and made baseless allegations of adultery against him in an effort to destroy his marriage.

The SMC complaints committee concluded that no formal inquiry was necessary and issued a letter of advice to Leo.

Leo, represented by Mr Wendell Wong, could have been fined up to $10,000 and/or jailed for up to three years for intercepting communications from Ms Tan's laptop by using the keylogger software.

The maximum penalty for unlawful access to data in the computer system is a $5,000 fine and two years' jail.

elena@sph.com.sg

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This article was first published on Feb 15, 2017.
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Two men from Pakistan, who came to Singapore to sell tissue paper, were yesterday sentenced to hang for murdering a compatriot to recover money that they had lost to him in a game of cards.

The duo, Rasheed Muhammad, 46, and Ramzan Rizwan, 28, took $6,000 from the victim after smothering him, and then sawed off his legs to pack his remains into two suitcases.

Each blamed the other for killing 59-year-old Muhammad Noor at their Rowell Road lodging house on June 11, 2014.

But the High Court concluded that the duo - who were caught on surveillance footage going together to buy suitcases and saws - had acted as a team in carrying out their common intention to kill the victim and rob him of his money.

"It seems clear that robbery was the motive to kill, as the money found on both accused persons shows," said Justice Choo Han Teck.

Ramzan was found with $3,318, while Rasheed had $5,745 on him. Ramzan claimed that his share of the loot was $1,100.

115536

2014-06-11 21:29:29

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Male body without legs found stuffed in bag along Syed Alwi Road

Source: YouTube screengrabs, The New Paper, Lim Kok You

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Said Justice Choo: "The motives were common; the plan required two persons... I do not think that one man alone could have carried out the dismemberment of Muhammad Noor's body."

Rasheed and Ramzan were calm after their death sentence was passed, and spoke briefly to their assigned lawyers - Mr Wong Siew Hong and Mr R. S. Bajwa, respectively - and a representative from the Pakistani High Commission.

The killing came to light when an 81-year-old man made a grisly find in Syed Alwi Road - a grey suitcase containing the victim's legless body.

Several passers-by tried to help him push the bag, but when they learnt there was a body inside, one of them called the police.

Investigations led police to the lodging house, and the duo were arrested the next day.

Rasheed later led police to a black suitcase containing the victim's legs at the Jalan Kubor Muslim cemetery.

During the five-day trial, the court heard that Rasheed and the victim were roommates at the lodging house. Ramzan arrived later and lodged in another room. All were in Singapore to sell tissue paper.

Rasheed said Ramzan was the one who wanted to kill the victim. He said he was forced to help because Ramzan had threatened to harm his family, and that it was Ramzan who smothered the victim.

Ramzan's version was that when he went to Mr Muhammad Noor's room to plead for the return of his money, Rasheed suddenly smothered the victim with a shirt. Ramzan said he took over the smothering on the instructions of Rasheed, who strangled the victim with a string. He said the victim was still alive when he ran out of the room in fear.

An autopsy confirmed that the victim was smothered; while there were marks on his neck, he was most likely dead by the time he was strangled.

Rasheed and Ramzan later went to buy a suitcase and two saws.

They then sawed off the victim's legs and stuffed his upper body in the bag, before going out to buy another bag for the legs.

Ramzan pulled the bag with the legs to the cemetery before returning to help Rasheed with the other bag.

But one of the wheels on the suitcase broke and the duo abandoned the bag when blood dripped out as they tried to lift it.

Yesterday, Justice Choo said he did not believe that Rasheed was threatened into helping Ramzan, who is 18 years his junior. If Rasheed had wanted no part in the plan, he could have simply walked away from the room, said the judge.

The judge also did not believe Ramzan's claim that he was outside the room during the murder.

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This article was first published on Feb 18, 2017.
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For Madam Chen Yoke Mooi, yesterday was the first time she had laid eyes on her daughter's killer Gabriel Lee Haw Ling.

The housewife knew that her daughter Elsie Lie Lek Chee was dating him, but disapproved of the relationship.

The 54-year-old had never met him even after he became engaged to the eldest of her three children.

She was inconsolable after hearing that Lee had been sentenced to 10 years in jail.

"My daughter died so horribly... Ten years for a life, it is not fair," she cried.

The housewife pointed out that Lee could be "out in two years".

379908

2017-02-24 11:07:47

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Woman killed in grisly 2012 Jurong West murder

Source:

The New Paper

The Straits Times

Lianhe Zaobao

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His jail term was backdated to April 1, 2012, when he was remanded in custody after being charged.

If he behaves well in prison, he could get a one-third remission of his sentence.

He was originally charged with murder, but this was reduced to culpable homicide after he was assessed by a psychiatrist to have suffered a brief psychotic disorder at the time.

The disorder substantially reduced Lee's mental responsibility for his act of killing Ms Lie, but he knew what he was doing was wrong, said the report by Dr Tejpal Singh.

Madam Chen's elder son, who was also in court, said the family had expected Lee to be sentenced to life imprisonment.

Mr Lie Jinn Chyau, 26, a businessman, said his mother gets even more emotional when his sister's birthday and death anniversary come round.

Read also: 2012 Jurong West murder: Man jailed 10 years​

selinal@sph.com.sg

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This article was first published on Feb 24, 2017.
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A decision on the application for political asylum in the United States by Singaporean teenage blogger Amos Yee is expected in two weeks.

"After hours of testimony from numerous witnesses, Amos Yee's asylum hearing is over and a decision is expected in two weeks," Grossman Law, the law firm representing the 18-year-old, said in a tweet after the hearing on Tuesday.

The hearing, which was not open to the public, took seven hours, his lawyer Sandra Grossman told The Straits Times over the phone.

Read also: Teenage blogger Amos Yee detained in United States

Mr Yee spoke for two hours.

Mr Kenneth Jeyaretnam, secretary-general of the Reform Party, was one of those who testified.

He explained, among other things, "the context of conditions in Singapore, why the Government behaves the way it does and how it uses statutes and laws".

Read also: Youth pleads guilty to using criminal force on Amos Yee

"Mr Jeyaretnam gave examples of prosecutions," Ms Grossman said, and added that he believed people should be allowed to express themselves even if it is considered offensive to others.

Mr Yee, who had served two jail terms in Singapore for wounding religious feelings, has been in detention in the US since arriving in Chicago on Dec 16.

He was on a tourist visa with a round-trip ticket from Singapore.

184533

2015-03-30 11:16:50

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Police arrest Amos Yee, the teen behind anti-Lee Kuan Yew video

Source: , , YouTube screengrabs

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"The US government opposed protection for Amos Yee," Ms Grossman said. "The Department of Homeland Security said Amos Yee was legitimately prosecuted under Singapore laws for obscenity and religious freedom, and that these laws apply to everyone, and he can't be considered persecuted.

"We argued that laws used to prosecute were only a pretext in order to restrict and silence his… political opinion."

She added: "The judge regretted that Amos Yee remained in custody and said he would probably have a decision in two weeks."

Read also: Amos Yee's asylum bid: US court hearing on March 7

208087

2015-07-06 21:19:44

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Amos Yee sentenced to 4 weeks in jail

Source: The Straits Times, The New Paper, Reuters, AFP, Lianhe Zaobao

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This article was first published on Mar 09, 2017.
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A police full-time national serviceman who lost money in stocks and soccer betting stole three 100g gold bars worth a total of $13,800 from an 84-year-old retiree, a court heard.

Tan Bing Ren, 21, was a Special Constabulary sergeant when he stole the gold bars from Madam Tjang Siang Le at her flat in Waterloo Street on Nov 24 and 30, 2015.

He pleaded guilty to two counts of theft and was given 16 months' jail yesterday. A charge of pawning a gold bar for $4,600 was considered during his sentencing.

Read also: Resident tracks woman offering sex services in condo, records 111 visitors in 3 weeks

The court heard that Tan and his colleague were attending to a case of theft reported by Madam Tjang on Nov 24 when he stole a Credit Suisse gold bar from her.

She had shown the officers the safe where she kept money and other valuables, and alleged that her maid had stolen from her. She took out most of the items and placed them on her bed. Among them were four gold bars, one of which was placed near Tan's file. Tan took one of them when his colleague and Madam Tsang were not looking.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Mansoor Amir said Tan sold the gold bar for $4,600 at Value Max Pawnshop in Buffalo Road two days later. He repaid a friend $2,000, a sum he had borrowed to settle a bank debt he had taken out after suffering investment losses of $20,000.

A few days later, he paid Madam Tsang a visit, purportedly to suggest installing CCTV cameras in the unit.

Read also:Heroic ethnic-Pakistani policeman in HK amazes with his Cantonese ability

"This was a ruse and the accused, in fact, wanted to visit the victim so that he could steal more gold bars," said the DPP.

When Tan visited her, he asked her to show him her valuables on the pretext of making sure everything was in order. Madam Tsang opened the safe and laid out her valuables, which included three gold bars, on her bed. When she was distracted, he stole two of the gold bars. Later that day, she checked her safe and found that three gold bars were missing. She then called the police.

Investigations showed that Tan had given one of the gold bars to his friend as repayment for a loan. He handed the other to his girlfriend for safekeeping when he found out that the police were looking for him.

All the gold bars and the $2,000 have been recovered. The maximum penalty for each count of theft is seven years' jail and a fine.

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This article was first published on Mar 15, 2017.
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A cosplay enthusiast who enjoyed dressing up as a law enforcement officer caused such alarm with a replica weapon that 50 real police officers were mobilised to track him down.

Timothy Tan Zhiyu, 26, who is unemployed, was yesterday fined $1,000 for his antics.

Tan was walking alone towards an open air carpark near Yishun Ring Road on the morning of Sept 23, 2015, when he decided to fiddle with his replica gun, which he had tucked down the front of his pants.

He took the toy gun out, cocked it as if it was a real weapon, and hid it underneath his clothes again. A passer-by who saw Tan doing this was alarmed and called police.

Officers from different police departments, including the Special Tactics and Rescue team and the Special Operations Command, were mobilised in an urgent operation to track him down.

They combed through closed-circuit television footage from various Housing Board blocks in the neighbourhood and interviewed people in the vicinity.

Officers finally spotted Tan holding his replica gun in CCTV footage captured in a lift at Block 331 Yishun Ring Road.

They raided his flat and arrested him there, only to realise that the weapon was made of hard plastic and unable to fire any projectiles.

Tan told them that he bought the toy gun at Funan DigitaLife Mall. Police seized a total of 14 replica rifles and two replica handguns from Tan's home.

He had engaged in cosplay for many years and enjoyed dressing up as a Swat officer or a member of the United States Marines. And he bought several plastic toy guns to feed his interest.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Joshua Rene Jeyaraj told the court that Tan did not think anyone noticed him playing with the replica gun, and he did not intend to alarm anyone.

The DPP told District Judge Imran Abdul Hamid: "Given that it seemed that Tan was in possession of a real handgun and the current security climate, an urgent police operation was mounted to determine Tan's whereabouts."

DPP Joshua said police have since raided the store where Tan bought the replicas as part of investigations into suspected breaches of import and export laws.

For displaying threatening behaviour and thereby causing alarm, Tan could have been fined up to $5,000.

ashaffiq@sph.com.sg

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This article was first published on Mar 15, 2017.
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A mentally ill woman, angry with her landlord for switching off the main power supply, slashed him in the forearm with a paper cutter.

Mr Wong Keng Woo, 76, died about 11/2 hours later from acute haemorrhage due to an incised wound of the left radial artery. The contributory cause was ischaemic heart disease.

Malaysian Woo Mui Mee, 36, claimed she attacked Mr Wong after he took a bamboo pole and poked her repeatedly in her abdomen at Block 114, Yishun Ring Road, on Nov 21, 2015.

Woo, who was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, was yesterday sentenced to three years' jail after admitting to causing grievous hurt to Mr Wong at about 10pm that day.

Woo had entered Singapore days earlier on Nov 15 that year to look for a job, said Deputy Public Prosecutor Zhuo Wenzhao. The former dishwasher, who had previously rented a room from Mr Wong, returned to his flat as a tenant again.

Investigations showed that on the night of the attack, Woo became angry with Mr Wong after he switched off the main power supply. When she saw him seated at a bus stop opposite the block, she shouted at him to return. When he was back at the flat, she scolded him and he threw something on her room door which made her angrier.

She then confronted Mr Wong with the paper cutter. She slashed him once on his left forearm outside the flat when she saw him trying to switch on the power supply.

He then took a wooden pole and walked towards her. When she saw this, she slashed him again on the forearm before running away. By then, neighbours had called the police who found blood along the corridor but could not access the unit.

Singapore Civil Defence Force personnel cut the padlock on the window and an officer climbed into the unit and unlocked the wooden door. Mr Wong was found motionless on the bed in the master bedroom and pronounced dead at 11.38pm.

In a mitigation plea, Woo's assigned lawyers from the Criminal Legal Aid Scheme, Mr Amarick Gill and Ms Cheryl Ng, said the accused's actions were a result of her mental condition which made her believe Mr Wong was sexually attracted to her.

An Institute of Mental Health report found Woo had no insight into her mental condition, but if given proper treatment before release, her condition could be managed and she would not repeat similar acts in future.

"A significant and lengthy sentence will be unjustifiable, purposeless and will serve neither Ms Woo's interest nor the public interest," said the defence.

Woo, whose sentence was backdated to Nov 23, 2015, could have been jailed for up to 15 years and fined.

elena@sph.com.sg

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This article was first published on Mar 21, 2017.
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