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Corpun file 8337 at www.corpun.com
The Straits Times, Singapore, 1 January 2002
Molester gets preventive detention
A JOBLESS man who molested and sodomised a 15-year-old boy repeatedly was yesterday sentenced to 14 years in preventive detention and 20 strokes of the cane.
Hussain Samat also had sex with a teenage girl and forced her to perform oral sex on him.
Yesterday, in passing his sentence, Judicial Commissioner Woo Bih Li called the 36-year-old 'depraved and dangerous' and 'a menace to society'.
Hussain pleaded guilty to three charges of molestation and a charge of unnatural sex on Nov 22. Six other charges were considered.
The sentencing was postponed to yesterday after the court called for a preventive-detention report.
Preventive detention is reserved for repeat offenders who are unlikely to change. They cannot be released early from jail for good behaviour.
The court had heard that Hussain has spent more than 13 years of his 36 years in jail for armed robbery, stealing and drug-related offences. He has also been caned a total of 36 times for these crimes.
He committed his first crime at the age of 11, when he was caught stealing.
On Feb 17 last year, he accused a 15-year-old boy's older woman friend and her group of friends of causing him - Hussain - trouble.
He slapped the teen, dragged him into a storeroom and, holding a metal pole, ordered him to strip. He then forced the youth to perform oral sex on him, kissed and sodomised him, despite the teen's pleas to stop.
The boy lodged a police report on Feb 20.
Sometime between September and October last year, Hussain had sex with a 15-year-old girl who was tipsy and forced her to perform oral sex on him.
Deputy public prosecutors Lee Lit Cheng and Adriel Loh described him as an 'unrepentant recidivist', who used violence to terrorise his young victims into submitting to his sexual perversions.
The prosecutors said that he ought to be 'taken out of circulation for the protection and safety' of the community.
Copyright © 2001 Singapore Press Holdings. All rights reserved.
Corpun file 8372 at www.corpun.com
The Straits Times, Singapore, 9 January 2002
Jail, caning for robber who hurt victim
He grabbed the woman, pulled her into a lift and robbed her
A YOUNG robber pretended to ask a 26-year-old woman for directions before grabbing her by the neck and dragging her into an HDB lift, a district court heard.
John Henry William, 19, admitted assaulting Malaysian clerk Hong Chieng Shan when robbing her of her $20 sling bag, which contained $300 cash, a Nokia mobile phone and other personal items, inside a lift at Jurong West Street 62 on July 12 last year.
He committed the offence with two others, Chandramohan Naidu Sankaran, 21, and Syed Ismail Syed Abdul Kadir, 16. They acted as lookouts who were supposed to flag a cab for their getaway.
The court heard that Ms Hong was returning home from work at about midnight that day.
As she was about to enter the lift, William approached her and pretended to ask the way to a neighbouring block.
He then grabbed her by the neck and dragged her into the lift before taking her bag and escaping on the eighth floor.
He joined his two accomplices nearby and shared the contents with them.
Yesterday, William also pleaded guilty to possession of a 10-cm-long penknife and four charges under the Films Act, which included distributing obscene VCDs and trying to carry on the business without a licence in Toa Payoh Central last February.
He was sentenced to a total of seven years' jail and 18 strokes of the cane.
William, who has previous convictions for burglary and robbery, had three other charges considered in his sentencing.
Chandramohan, a full-time national serviceman, admitted helping William and Syed Ismail rob Ms Hong and was given five years' jail and 12 strokes of the cane. Another charge of robbery with hurt was taken into consideration.
Sentencing for Syed Ismail, who is unemployed, was postponed to Oct 29 pending a Reformative Training Centre report.
Copyright © 2001 Singapore Press Holdings. All rights reserved.
Corpun file 8374 at www.corpun.com
The Straits Times, Singapore, 11 January 2002
Robber couple ran off with cabby's cell phone
A COUPLE used a taxi driver's mobile phone to make a call, ran off with it, then tried to rob him of his takings at Mount Faber.
When the taxi driver chased after them, Ng Beng San (left) grabbed him. As they struggled, Ng Hong Eng tried to take money from his pocket.Ng Beng San, 29, a part-time painter, and his girlfriend, beer promoter Ng Hong Eng, 33, hailed Mr Toh Fatt Keong's cab along Jalan Bukit Merah at about 2.30 am on Aug 29 last year.
She asked the cabby if she could use his mobile phone and he passed it to her.
But when they got to Mount Faber, the couple fled, taking the phone with them.
Mr Toh gave chase and caught up with them but Ng Beng San, who was armed with a screwdriver, grabbed him by the neck and demanded his cash.
While Mr Toh struggled, the woman tried to take money from his pocket.
He managed to break free and called the police.
They later caught the pair.
Ng Beng San had also taken morphine that day. Two days later, police seized 0.6 g of his heroin from his girlfriend's flat in Jalan Bukit Merah.
Yesterday, he admitted trying to rob and hurt the cabby.
He also pleaded guilty to misappropriating a $2,800 gold bracelet from a Queensway jewellery shop, theft and two drug charges.
He was sentenced to a total of 9½ years' jail and 12 strokes of the cane.
Five other charges were considered by the court in sentencing.
District Judge Adab Singh sentenced his girlfriend, now in jail for drug possession, to six years and three months' jail for attempted robbery with hurt and theft. A third charge was taken into consideration.
Corpun file 8454 at www.corpun.com
The Straits Times, Singapore, 25 January 2002
Gang leader gets 18 years' jail for two killings
By Alethea Lim
Court CorrespondentAT 16, Balachandran Bernard became the section head of the '369' secret society.
For giving the go-ahead, Balachandran bore responsibility for the assaults. -- WONG KWAI CHOWThe middle child in a family of three boys, he assumed the top position in the gang's Teban Gardens area after the then section head was sent to jail.
Balachandran, who was educated only up to Primary 5, had been recruited into the gang three years earlier.
His new position included reporting the group's activities to the gang's main leader. He also became a mentor for those members who went to him for help.
In 1997 -- the year that he took over as section head -- Balachandran was sentenced to two years' jail for rioting with a deadly weapon.
A year after his release, in October 2000, he ordered two separate attacks which resulted in two men being killed and a third being injured seriously.
Yesterday, Balachandran, now 20, was sentenced to 18 years' jail and the maximum 24 strokes of the cane.
He had on Tuesday pleaded guilty to two counts of manslaughter while being part of an unlawful assembly and one charge of causing grievous hurt with dangerous weapons while part of a gang.
His lawyer, Mr S.S. Dhillon, said the youth never laid a finger on the two men whom his gang battered to death. Balachandran had only participated in the assault on Mr Nasir Din Meera Sahib, 37.
But Judicial Commissioner Woo Bih Li disagreed and said that 'the person who gave the go-ahead is no less responsible than the attackers' and should bear primary responsibility for the assaults.
The first attack happened at East Coast Park on Oct 11, 2000, where the gang assaulted Mr Hamzir Hamin, 41, using wooden poles and metal rods. Mr Hamzir died in hospital from multiple head injuries four days later.
On Oct 15, the gang set upon Mr Nasir Din and his friend, Mr Roslan Mohamed, 31, with parangs. The pair were at a pub in City Plaza in Geylang Road celebrating Mr Roslan's birthday.
Mr Roslan died at the scene from a neck wound while his friend received 50 slashes and spent 15 days in hospital with injuries to his arms, back, neck, scalp and chest.
The attacks on both occasions were unprovoked.
Balachandran went on the run but was arrested last July in Johor Baru.
In a statement read out in court, victim Nasir Din said: 'They slashed me a few times on my back. I was bleeding all over my body.'
When he collapsed, the gang continued slashing him. 'I thought I was going to die,' recalled the father of two children, aged 13 and six months.
Mr Nasir Din stopped work because of his injuries. He has already spent about $30,000 on his medical bills.
'I have to live with the ordeal of losing a good friend and being a burden to my family. I will never forget this terrifying incident for the rest of my life,' he said.
Corpun file 8471 at www.corpun.com
The Straits Times, Singapore, 29 January 2002
20 years' jail, caning for masked rapist
By Wong Fei Wan
THE sex predator's victims were 14, vulnerable and frightened.
He was 27, dangerous and calculating.
See Toh Chan Giap, a cargo hand, tricked and coerced two Secondary 3 schoolgirls into meeting him last year.
He forced Mary to perform oral sex on him and tried to rape her. Six months later, he raped Jane (not their real names).
Yesterday, See Toh admitted rape, attempted rape and two counts of forcing the victims to perform oral sex on him.
Judicial Commissioner Tay Yong Kwang sentenced him to 20 years' jail and 20 strokes of the cane after taking into consideration two charges of aggravated molest and another charge of molest.
See Toh first met Mary in January last year at a Housing Board void deck in Ang Mo Kio while gambling with friends. He got her telephone number from her friend and called her that night.
He said he had photographs of her gambling and threatened to give them to her school and parents.
Mary agreed to meet him at 5 am on Jan 17 last year, after he threatened to visit her home.
When she came out of her HDB flat half an hour later, he was waiting, his face covered with a piece of cloth and wearing a cap, so only his eyes could be seen.
He took her to a staircase in the HDB block, ordered her to strip and told her to perform oral sex.
She fled but he called again, claiming he had videotaped her naked and would sell the tape or give it to her parents if she did not obey.
She came out again and followed See Toh to the 12th floor of the HDB block where he forced her to perform oral sex on him. He tried to rape her but she broke free and ran home. Mary lodged a police report the next day.
Six months later, he struck again. On July 4 at about 10.15 pm, he called another teenager and lied that pictures of her naked were on the Internet, with her name, address and telephone number.
He offered to help Jane by approaching the 'mastermind' of the website to take down the pictures.
At about 4 am the next day, See Toh called and said the 'mastermind' had sent someone down. When Jane stepped out of her flat an hour later, See Toh was there, once again with his face masked.
Threatening to harm her family and boyfriend, See Toh ordered Jane to strip, forced her to perform oral sex on him and raped her.
That afternoon, See Toh called again and arranged a second meeting. When he turned up at 1 am on July 6, the police arrested him.
Yesterday, Deputy Public Prosecutors Daniel Yong and Christopher Ong said See Toh was a 'dangerous criminal who preyed on young girls'.
He used false identities to lure the teenagers out of their homes, a ruse that showed 'chilling calculation and premeditation', they added.
Copyright © 2002 Singapore Press Holdings. All rights reserved.
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