Corpun file 25841 at www.corpun.com
The Straits Times, Singapore, 10 January 2015, p.B4
Trio given jail, caning over rape of pub waitress
Attack had continued despite hotel staff's enquiries following screams
By Selena Lum
AFTER a night of drinking with a pub waitress, three young men -- two brothers and their acquaintance -- conspired to rape the severely inebriated 18-year-old.
They took her to a budget hotel and, once inside their room, wasted no time in undressing themselves and groping her as she lay on the bed.
This culminated in the youngest, Ho Boon Sheng, then 20, raping her even as she screamed and struggled.
Yesterday, Ho, now 25, was jailed 13½ years and ordered to be caned 12 strokes for the rape at Hotel 81 Cosy on Jiak Chuan Road, Chinatown, in the early hours of July 4, 2010.
Brothers Calvin Tan Jian Wei, 28, and Edwin Tan Jian An, 26, who admitted abetting the rape, were each jailed 11 years and ordered to be caned eight strokes.
As the trio were led away by guards, Ho's wife, carrying their nine-day-old baby born on New Year's Day, sobbed while their two-year-old daughter called for her father.
While the brothers did not actually rape the victim, the prosecution asserted that they played significant roles, including carrying her to the room, holding her legs and covering her mouth to silence her.
The High Court heard that Edwin Tan, then a regular soldier, knew the girl through a mutual friend and often texted her.
On the night of July 3, 2010, Edwin Tan went with his former camp mate Ho, a claims assistant, to the Boat Quay pub where she worked.
The older Tan joined them later.
As the girl drank with the trio, she became weak and rested her head on the table.
Ho then mooted the idea of having a "foursome" -- a suggestion the inebriated waitress was unaware of.
When they left the pub, Ho suggested taking her to the Tans' home but the older Tan suggested going to a hotel.
As the trio sexually violated the girl, hotel staff called the room phone and knocked on the door no fewer than four times on hearing her screams. But they deflected the enquiries and continued their assault.
Three employees kept knocking on the door and entered the room as the men made an exit.
The police were called in and the three men were arrested at the hotel after they returned to carry the victim out.
The trio were "unrelenting and persistent in their sexual assault", said Justice Chan Seng Onn.
Corpun file 25931 at www.corpun.com
The Straits Times, Singapore, 21 January 2015
Student from China gets jail, caning for graffiti offences
Ian Poh
A student who tried to "create awareness" about the Falungong spiritual group by writing messages about it in public areas was sentenced to two months in jail and six strokes of the cane yesterday.
Chinese national Gao Bin, 21, used a black permanent marker to write on a viaduct pillar in Geylang East Avenue 1: "Fa Lun Da Fa is good. Chinese Communist Party is going to fall, faster leave the party, to save yourselves."
The message -- about the spiritualist movement which is banned in China -- was written in Chinese at around 10pm on Aug 21 last year, and was followed by what appeared to be a mobile phone number.
The court heard that Gao went home after writing the graffiti, which cost transport operator SMRT $300 to remove.
Gao's jail term includes punishment for a similar offence a week later at a control box in Lorong 22 Geylang belonging to the Land Transport Authority.
Gao later told police he had wanted to "create awareness" among his countrymen through his graffiti.
Four other counts of vandalism last August, also involving graffiti written in Chinese, were taken into consideration.
In two of these, Gao targeted metal electrical grid boxes in Purvis Street belonging to Singapore Power. He also targeted a concrete pillar that belongs to SingTel, and one other SMRT pillar.
It is understood that Gao is studying English at a private school in Singapore. His parents are in China.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Sarah Shi told the court that Gao's actions caused $728.11 worth of damage.
Gao told District Judge Toh Yung Cheong he could not afford to pay for the damage. He was not ordered to pay compensation in the light of this.
For each count of vandalism, Gao could have been jailed for up to three years or fined up to $2,000, and given from three to eight strokes of the cane.
Corpun file 25874 at www.corpun.com
The Straits Times, Singapore, 27 January 2015, p.A3
Vandalism: Prinsip Link
Ringleader gets jail, caning for several offences
By Elena Chong
THE ringleader of the Prinsep Link vandalism case was sentenced to two years' jail and three strokes of the cane yesterday for vandalism, theft, sex with a minor and causing grievous hurt.
Freelance disc jockey Danial Ryan Salleh, 26, who faced 15 charges, had pleaded guilty to five charges earlier this month.
He is the last in the group of four to be dealt with over graffiti sprayed on the pavement outside Sunshine Plaza and on a pillar there on Nov 5, 2013.
Two of his three accomplices -- Muhammad Qamarul Arifin Sa'adon, 23, and Muhammad Fadzly Aziz, 22 -- got two months' jail and three strokes each for vandalism last August while Danial's sentence on this charge alone was five months and caning.
The court heard that the group were at a bus stop along Orchard Road after watching a movie on Nov 4, 2013, when Danial told them of an overseas call he received from someone claiming to be an assistant to the leader of the hacker group "Anonymous".
The caller, from Switzerland, told him to get a group to spray the words: "We Are One. We Are Legion. We Will Never Forgive. We Will Never Forget. Expect Us."
This was supposedly in support of its fight against the Singapore Government.
"Anonymous" had posted a video on YouTube threatening cyber attacks on the Singapore Government in late October that year.
The group agreed to help Danial and "Anonymous". Later, at about 3am, they bought two cans of indelible paint from Mustafa Centre.
As they were passing Sunshine Plaza on the way to their intended destination in Somerset, Danial used black spray paint to write purported anti-government graffiti on the pillar.
Qamarul, Fadzly and Muhammad Fitri Abu Kasim, 25, acted as lookouts. Fitri was later given a 12-month conditional warning.
In the theft cases, Danial had stolen a 12-year-old student's haversack containing a laptop worth $700 and other items at Costa Sands Resort on June 1 last year with his accomplice.
That same month, he filched an earpiece worth $150 from Million Tech at Sim Lim Square.
Through Twitter, Danial came to know a 15-year-old girl in March 2013. He had unprotected sex with her at his home when no one else was around about six months later.
The court heard that on March 19 last year, Danial punched a taxi driver -- causing the 61-year-old to suffer facial fractures -- for rejecting his unlawful request to ferry five passengers.
He was then intoxicated on alcohol and cough syrup.
