Corpun file 26649 at www.corpun.com
The Straits Times, Singapore, 6 December 2017
Australian gets 11 months' jail, 3 strokes of the cane for molesting 2 women at 2 Boat Quay bars
By Elena Chong
Court Correspondent
Wade James Burridge was sentenced to 11 months' jail and three strokes of the cane on Dec 6, 2017. ST PHOTO: WONG KWAI CHOW
SINGAPORE -- An Australian man who molested two women in separate incidents within a span of two hours faces a jail term and caning.
Wade James Burridge, 34, a director of his own company that deals in race horses, was convicted of two charges of outrage of modesty.
He was sentenced to 11 months' jail and three strokes of the cane on Wednesday (Dec 6). Burridge is filing an appeal and is out on $40,000 bail.
He was convicted on Oct 25 after a six-day trial.
The court heard he touched the private parts of a 46-year-old events consultant at Mogambo Bar in Canton Street at about 11pm on Oct 8, 2015.
He was also found guilty of putting his hand inside a 33-year-old physiotherapist's shorts and squeezing her buttock at The Mad Men Attic Bar in North Canal Road at 12.37am the next day.
The first victim testified that she felt Burridge's hand up her skirt and touch her for about two seconds when he walked behind her.
She immediately turned around and hit Burridge and told the bar's general manager, who reported the incident to the police.
The court also heard that Burridge was sitting behind the second victim when he kept knocking on her chair.
About 10 to 15 minutes later, she felt his hands grabbing her waist. She was not sure if he fumbled or fell. His right hand then went down inside her shorts and he squeezed her right buttock.
The woman grabbed his shirt collar and yelled at him, and wanted to punch him. She released him and he walked away but she reported the matter and the police were called.
In her brief oral grounds in October, District Judge Hamidah Ibrahim found that Burridge's touching of the first victim was not accidental but deliberate.
And even if Burridge said that he fell and grabbed the second victim's waist, there was absolutely no necessity for his hand to go under her shorts and squeeze her buttock.
Deputy Public Prosecutor N.K. Anitha asked for a total sentence of nine months and 10 weeks' jail with three strokes of the cane.
She said Burridge was clearly a persistent offender, as he had committed two distinct offences within a short span of time over the course of a single night, adding that the second victim suffered psychological harm as a result of his actions.
Burridge's lawyer Shashi Nathan said his client had been living in Singapore since 2010 and has a baby boy with his partner of two years.
He said his client had been drinking heavily and was intoxicated on both occasions. He urged the court to depart from the usual benchmark of nine months and three strokes of the cane and impose five to six months instead.
Mr Nathan added that Burridge had been diagnosed with major depressive disorder by a psychiatrist at the time, and that his symptoms were exacerbated by the end of his long-term relationship and stress at work.
The maximum penalty for outrage of modesty is two years' jail, fine and caning.
Copyright © 2018 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. All rights reserved.
Corpun file 26652 at www.corpun.com
Yahoo News Singapore, 27 December 2017
Man on the run for 2 years after robbing masseuse jailed and caned
By Wong Casandra
Senior Reporter
Rigel Douglas Wong was sentenced to three-and-a-half years in jail and 12 strokes of the cane for robbery and theft in a house. PHOTO: Singapore Police Force
He was on the run for over two years after robbing a masseuse in her house and stealing from her roommate.
Rigel Douglas Wong, now 27, was eventually arrested while he was working at a nightclub in Singapore.
On Wednesday (December 26), Wong was sentenced in the State Courts to three-and-a-half years in jail and 12 strokes of the cane after he pleaded guilty to charges of robbery and theft in a house. An additional charge of impersonating a police officer was taken into consideration for sentencing.
The court heard that on 31 March, 2015, Wong met Hideyoshi Tanaka, 27, and Gabriel Foo Junxian, 20, at an internet gaming cafe at Geylang Road.
Wong suggested robbing prostitutes for easy money, and Tanaka and Foo agreed with the idea. The trio took down about 10 contact numbers of prostitutes from the internet and started calling them.
Their first attempt failed when a prostitute cancelled the appointment after being contacted as Wong was late.
A 35-year-old masseuse later indicated she was available after Wong contacted her, and she told him to proceed to her house in Balestier.
At about 2am on 1 April 2015, the trio arrived outside her house, where they planned for Wong to enter the unit first while the others hid behind a nearby tree.
However, their plan was thwarted when the victim saw Tanaka and Foo and she quickly closed the door after Wong entered. He later left the house on the pretext of needing to meet his friends.
The trio later decided that Foo should enter the house first. Wong had convinced the victim to provide her services by increasing the fee to $300.
Upon entering the house, Foo prevented the victim from closing the door to allow Wong and Tanaka to enter. Wong then punched the victim's face. He and Foo also pushed the victim's head several times.
The trio warned the victim that they were police officers, with Foo flashing his Institute of Technical Education identification card to her.
The trio then took a $600 Samsung S3 mobile phone, $300 in cash and a $150 Nokia mobile phone from the victim's bedroom. They also went to another room and stole a $1000 Samsung S4 mobile phone, a $950 iPhone 4 and a $700 iPad mini belonging to the victim's roommate.
The latter had overheard the commotion and left the house by a back door.
The three accused then sold the five stolen devices at a second-hand shop in Geylang. The devices were not recovered, court documents showed.
The victim was diagnosed with a minor head injury and bleeding in her left eye.
Foo and Tanaka were arrested by the police in April 2015. Foo was sentenced to probation for his role while Tanaka was sentenced to 14 months in jail.
Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Charleston Teo had called for an "adequate uplift" of the minimum three-year jail term for the robbery offence to be imposed on Wong, as he was the mastermind who played an active role in ensuring that the trio's plan succeeded.
In mitigation, defence lawyer Henry Lim said Wong was young and hoped to be given a second chance.
In sentencing Wong, District Judge Ong Chin Rhu said that the circumstances of Wong's crimes warranted an uplift.
For his robbery offence, Wong could have been jailed between three and 14 years, and given at least 12 strokes of the cane. For theft in a house, he could have been jailed for up to seven years, and fined.
