Corpun file 12925

Straits Times, Singapore, 18 March 2004

Jail, caning for bogus cop who robbed prostitutes

A JOBLESS man who pretended to be an anti-vice policeman to prey on prostitutes, was yesterday jailed for seven years.

Sivakumar Shanmugan, 31, will also be caned the maximum 24 strokes.

He pleaded guilty to 10 charges of impersonating a police officer, robbery and cheating. Two other charges were taken into consideration during sentencing.

Sivakumar would hire a prostitute, and take her to a budget hotel on the pretext of having sex.

But once inside the hotel room, he would flash his expired Environment Ministry pass bearing his photo and identify himself as an anti-vice officer.

He would rifle through woman's belongings and make off with her money and mobile phone.

He did this to five prostitutes.

In some cases, he bound the women's hands with plastic flex-cuffs while he went through their things.

Between February and July last year, Sivakumar stole a total of about $6,000 from the women.

In mitigation, his lawyer, Mr Dinagaran said his client, married with two young children, had to borrow money from loan sharks after being retrenched from his security guard job.

Sivakumar had only intended to get enough money to keep the illegal moneylenders at bay, he said.

He still faces more than 50 charges for impersonating a police officer, cheating and theft.

Copyright @ 2004 Singapore Press Holdings. All rights reserved.

Corpun file 12994

Channel News Asia online, 26 March 2004

Singapore News

Man gets 4 years' jail and caning for molesting 10-year-old boy

By Bridget See
Channel NewsAsia

SINGAPORE : A man was sentenced to four years' jail and ordered to be given four strokes of the cane after he was found guilty of molesting a 10-year-old boy.

Yen Cheng Leong, 43, had submitted a written mitigation before the judge delivered the sentence on Friday.

The court heard Yen had molested the boy in a fifth floor toilet at Tiong Bahru Plaza last December.

He had pulled the young boy into a toilet cubicle and attempted to pull down his trousers.

His action was seen by someone in the next cubicle, who then alerted the boy's mother. - CNA

Copyright © 2004 MCN International Pte Ltd