Corpun file 24700 at www.corpun.com

The Straits Times, Singapore, 1 August 2013, p.A3

Jail, cane for man who pulled out replica pistol during row

By Khushwant Singh

A DINER who whipped out a replica pistol during a quarrel at a food stall was yesterday sentenced to a year and two months behind bars.

Kenny Lim Sze Yu -- who will also receive three strokes of the cane -- wanted to scare off his three foes, the court heard.

But one of the men pounced on him and pinned him to the ground while another stepped on the gun, breaking it to pieces.

The court heard that the unemployed 34-year-old bought the replica pistol from a friend for $50 on Feb 24.

A day later, he turned up alone at the Orchard Plaza eatery in the early hours after drinking beer with a friend in a nearby pub.

When the food stall assistant made a mistake with his order, he threw his bowl on the floor and overturned a table -- which nearly hit three other customers.

This sparked an argument, during which Lim pulled the replica pistol from his sling bag and brandished it at the trio.

When they tackled him and broke the suspected weapon, he demanded compensation for it, before leaving for home.

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Meanwhile, a passer-by noticed the commotion and called the police.

Lim was arrested four days later.

Pleading for leniency, defence counsel Peter Fernando said his client took out the replica pistol because he was outnumbered.

He added: "Lim's reaction... was utterly foolish and he has pleaded guilty to express his deep and sincere remorse."

Deputy Public Prosecutor Caleb Tan said Lim had committed a serious offence and should be sentenced to between eight months and a year in jail, with the mandatory three strokes of the cane.

But District Judge Toh Yung Cheong said he "had created fear and terror in a public place" and deserved the stiffer sentence of 14 months in prison. His jail term was backdated to March 2 -- the day he was remanded in custody.

The maximum sentence for brandishing an imitation firearm in a manner likely to cause fear of harm or death is 10 years in jail and at least three strokes of the cane.

Corpun file 24707 at www.corpun.com

The Straits Times, Singapore, 24 August 2013, p.B18

Cleared of fake cop charge, but guilty of raping teen

Technician gets 12 years' jail, 12 strokes of cane for sexual assault in car

By Ian Poh

AN AIRCRAFT technician who raped a 16-year-old girl in the back seat of his car was sentenced to 12 years' jail and 12 strokes of the cane yesterday.

Sivakumar Selvarajah, 45, flinched when the High Court convicted him and handed down the punishment.

His wife, who was seated in the public gallery, was seen wiping away tears.

He is appealing, and is out on bail, which will be doubled to $80,000 since he was found guilty.

Asking for leniency, Sivakumar's lawyer Foo Cheow Ming said it was "plain" that no violence was involved, and the victim did not sustain any injury.

But Justice Choo Han Teck agreed with Deputy Public Prosecutor Ng Yiwen on the appropriate punishment.

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He convicted Sivakumar on a charge of rape and two others of oral sex and outrage of modesty, but cleared the man of impersonating a police officer to get her to perform the sex acts.

The judge did not give his reasons.

One afternoon in July 2010, Sivakumar had approached the victim and her boyfriend, who were being intimate in a car at a Woodlands multi-storey carpark.

He threatened to charge them with engaging in sexual activity and littering, as the boyfriend had thrown out a condom, said prosecutors.

Taking a picture of rubbish below the car with his phone, Sivakumar warned that he had evidence and that their futures were at risk.

He gave the couple a choice -- either go with him to a police station, or the boyfriend could leave while he drove the girl home. The girl obeyed as she was feeling scared, said the prosecution.

While driving her home, Sivakumar pressured her into having sex with him in the back of his sports utility vehicle in Tampines Industrial Avenue 4.

Sivakumar had insisted during a six-day trial last month that he stopped his car at the carpark after he spotted two teenage boys behaving suspiciously.

He then saw the couple littering, and confronted them.

He claimed to have been concerned whether the girl's parents knew where she was, after asking the couple for their identity cards and catching her out for lying about where she lived.

He said it was the girl who volunteered to let him drive her home, and the boyfriend had agreed to it. She also initiated their subsequent encounter by offering sex for $200, and picking the spot.

Deputy Public Prosecutor S. Sellakumaran had argued that Sivakumar had concocted the story to explain how the girl ended up in his car.

Rape carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in jail, plus a fine or caning.

Copyright © 2013 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd.

Corpun file 24711 at www.corpun.com

The Straits Times, Singapore, 27 August 2013, p.A2

Cenotaph vandal gets 3 months' jail and 3 strokes

By Elena Chong
Court Correspondent

THE man who vandalised The Cenotaph war memorial in April was yesterday sentenced to three months' jail and the minimum three strokes of the cane.

Security guard Mohamad Khalid Mohamad Yusop, 33, also had to pay the $208 cost of repair.

In passing sentence, District Judge Lim Tse Haw said Khalid had committed a highly anti-social and very selfish act when he spray-painted "democracy" and an "X" in red on the monument in Connaught Drive on April 23.

"Just because you felt stressed over your family and financial circumstances, you decided to vandalise... a national monument," said the judge.

He compared this case to another graffiti case in 2010, when 32-year-old Swiss national Oliver Fricker was given seven months in jail and three strokes of the cane for trespass and spray-painting two MRT train carriages in a protected depot. The Fricker case involved around $11,000 in damage.

What made Khalid's act of vandalism worse was the significance of the public property involved. "You have shown great disrespect to the memory of our war dead and hurt the feelings of their descendants. Your action had also caused outrage among all right-thinking Singaporeans," said Judge Lim.

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Built in 1922, The Cenotaph is dedicated to the Singaporeans who died in the two World Wars. Located in an open public place, it is also vulnerable to vandalism.

Khalid, who said his graffiti was art and a revolution when confronted by eyewitnesses, had targeted The Cenotaph precisely because his graffiti would be easily noticed by the public.

Hence, there was a need to impose a deterrent sentence in order to discourage similar acts, the judge explained.

The judge also took into account that this was Khalid's first brush with the law and his genuine remorse in unreservedly apologising and asking Singaporeans to forgive him for his "unthinking action".