Corpun file 3284 at www.corpun.com
The Straits Times, Singapore, 5 February 1999
Jail and cane for 'weapons collector'
Police seized an assortment of weapons, including a revolver, bullets and parangs from a technician's flat
By Karen Wong
A MAN was found with an assortment of weapons, including a revolver, an axe, a number of parangs and knives, and a box of ammunition in his flat.
Air-conditioning technician Selamat Ahmat, 27, was arrested after his niece's boyfriend tipped off the police.
He was sentenced to six years and three months' jail, and ordered to receive 12 strokes of the cane after he admitted to possessing arms and weapons illegally, and importing a pair of handcuffs without a permit.
Two other charges of possessing weapons were considered in the sentencing.
He has a previous conviction for theft.
District Judge Khoo Oon Soo heard that on Sept 27 last year, five policemen went to Selamat's one-room flat in Bendemeer Road and found him hiding behind the main door.
They arrested him and carried out a search of the flat. The officers found a hand-made revolver, four rounds of ammunition, a pair of handcuffs and a red hand flare.
They also found three parangs, an axe, 11 daggers, three flick knives and a metre-long hunter's knife.
Police acted after receiving a phone call from someone who said that his girlfriend's uncle had a revolver and a box of bullets from Thailand.
Selamat had bought the revolver and bullets from Thailand about five years ago and the other weapons were bought during his visits to Thailand and Malaysia.
The revolver was later found to be in a serviceable condition.
Pleading for leniency, his lawyer, Mr S. S. Dhillon, said that his client had collected the items as a hobby.
He said that Selamat was not a secret society member, nor did he use the weapons to commit crime.
Mr Dhillon said that on the day of Selamat's arrest, he had reprimanded his niece for her bad behaviour and they quarrelled.
He said that it was out of spite that she asked her boyfriend to tell the police about Selamat's illegal "collection".
He added that his client "was so caught up with his passion for collecting these items" that he did not know he was flouting the law.
Copyright © 1999 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. All rights reserved.
Corpun file 3285 at www.corpun.com
The Straits Times, Singapore, 6 February 1999
He flung brick at ATM
By Elena Chong
A 20-YEAR-OLD man threw a brick at a POSBank automated teller machine when it would not dispense $50 to him.
Helmi Johari was yesterday sentenced to six months' jail and three strokes of the cane for vandalism.
The offence was committed outside the bank's Block 204, Hougang Street 21, branch on Dec 16, 1996. He has paid the bank $3,909 for the cost of repairing the machine.
The court heard that he tried to withdraw $50 but failed because his account did not have enough money. He tried again without success and, in anger, threw a brick at the keyboard.
Helmi said in mitigation that he had had a few drinks and was angry when the machine retained his card. Pleading for leniency, he said he had acted on the spur of the moment and was sorry.
He could have been fined up to $2,000 or jailed for up to three years and caned up to eight strokes.
Corpun file 3297 at www.corpun.com
The Straits Times, Singapore, 11 February 1999
Man gets jail for slashing teen
By Lim Seng Jin
A MAN slashed a teenager with a parang after quarrelling with the youth's father over money. Odd-job labourer S. Nagarajan, 38, also threatened another teenager with the parang.
He was given six years' jail and eight strokes of the cane by the High Court yesterday. Nagarajan quarrelled with despatch driver Mohamed Ramlee Sidin, 46, on the night of Aug 13 last year. At about 4.30 am on Aug 15, he went to the void deck of Block 886, Tampines Street 83, where Mr Ramlee's son, full-time national serviceman Adnan, 19, was sleeping with some friends.
He threatened Mr Adnan's unemployed friend Rosli Abdul Rahman, 17, with a parang. He later swung the parang at Mr Adnan, striking him on the face before the teenager ran away.
Mr Adnan had a fracture above his left eye, which was bruised, and an 8 cm cut on the left side of his head. He was warded in Changi General Hospital for four days.
Pleading for leniency yesterday, Nagarajan's lawyer, Mr Ratan Kumar Rai, said that his client was provoked when Mr Ramlee said that he would not repay his debt.
Judicial Commissioner Choo Han Teck sentenced Nagarajan on a charge of causing grievous hurt with a weapon, plus gave him a year's jail on a second charge -- intimidating Mr Rosli. The sentences run concurrently.
Corpun file 3355 at www.corpun.com
The Straits Times, Singapore, 16 February 1999
Thai worker jailed for manslaughter
Gambling dispute
A THAI construction worker who killed a fellow worker over a gambling dispute was sentenced to 10 years' jail and 12 strokes of the cane yesterday for manslaughter.
Khaoyuak Jariyan, 31, had used a 13-cm knife in the fatal stabbing of Mr Uthairuang Samai, 40, at the Casafina construction site off Bedok South Avenue 1 on Aug 30 last year. Deputy Public Prosecutor Joel Wong said that the two men had been gambling with five other workers at their worksite on the evening of Aug 29. Khaoyuak had been drinking Thai rice wine earlier.
Sometime past midnight, a dispute started during the game when Mr Uthairuang asked him to pay up $4 after placing $6 on the floor and asking for $10 in return.
Khaoyuak refused to pay up, claiming that he did not have enough money, said the DPP.
When the other worker raised his voice and demanded the $10 again, Khaoyuak threw the $10 note on the floor and made a remark that "it was only $10".
Mr Uthairuang then threw a punch at his face, and he fell back with a bleeding nose.
But he got up and grabbed a 13-cm knife that was atop a wooden cabinet nearby. He was hurrying towards the other worker, who had his back towards him, when one person in the group shouted a warning.
Mr Uthairuang turned round and was stabbed in the chest. He was pronounced dead about 30 minutes later by an ambulance officer.
Khaoyuak could have been jailed for life.
Copyright © 1999 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. All rights reserved.
Corpun file 3404 at www.corpun.com
The Straits Times, Singapore, 20 February 1999
Man gets jail for raping stepdaughter
He first attacked her when she was 11, raping her repeatedly while her mother was working night shifts
By Elena Chong
A 37-YEAR-OLD man who raped his young stepdaughter 10 times within a year was sentenced to a total of 16 years' jail and 24 strokes of the cane yesterday.
The rapist is a technician who cannot be named, in order to protect his victim, now 13 and in Secondary 1.
He pleaded guilty to five charges of raping his stepdaughter, from the time she was 11 years old, in their Housing Board flat between September 1996 and September 1997.
He was given the minimum eight years' jail and 12 strokes on each charge, with two sentences to run consecutively. He will be caned the maximum 24 strokes permitted under the law.
Five other rape charges were considered in sentencing.
He committed his crimes when the girl's mother, a 37-year-old factory operator, was working night shifts.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Daniel Yong said the victim's mother found out that her daughter had been raped only after reading some of the girl's letters to a friend last September.
Her daughter had not dared to tell her or any family member because she was frightened of her stepfather, who was a "fierce person". She was also afraid that no one would believe her, said the DPP.
The court was told about the sequence of rapes on the girl: One night in September 1996, when the man's wife was at work, he woke up his stepdaughter and asked her to follow him to his room.
He locked the bedroom door and raped her in there.
He then warned her not to tell anyone.
One evening the following month, when the victim was pretending to sleep, he woke her up and raped her again.
He repeated his acts of rape in January and February 1997, and in September that year when his stepdaughter turned 12.
DPP Yong said the man not only raped the girl but he also did so without a condom, exposing her each time to risks of pregnancy and sexually-transmitted diseases.
The girl, he said, was also afraid to tell anyone because she feared that the stepfather would hurt her mother and her sister.
Pressing for a severe sentence, he urged the court to consider that the girl was only 11 when the accused, placed in a position of trust and authority, committed his cruel acts of rape on her.
He added that the man, instead of protecting and caring for his stepdaughter, had taken advantage of the situation to gratify himself sexually.
Pleading for leniency, the accused told Judicial Commissioner Amarjeet Singh that he would not repeat his crimes again.
He also said that he had three young children to support.
He could have been jailed for up to 20 years on each charge.
Copyright © 1999 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. All rights reserved.
