ACH (a minor) v Public Prosecutor

JurisdictionSingapore
JudgeWong Li Tein
Judgment Date19 November 2009
Neutral Citation[2009] SGJC 5
Published date04 January 2010
CourtJuvenile Court (Singapore)
Plaintiff CounselINSP Zainol
Defendant CounselJuvenile & parents in person

[EDITORIAL NOTE: The details of this judgment have been changed to comply with the Children and Young Persons Act and/or the Women's Charter]

19 November 2009

District Judge Wong Li Tein:

1 On 3 September 2009, ACH, a male Chinese juvenile aged 15 years and 9 months (“the Juvenile”), pleaded guilty to the following charges:

1st Charge

You, ACH, M/15 yrs, DOB: 21.12.1993, are charged that you, on or about the 15th day of July 2009, in Singapore, did consume a specified drug listed in the Fourth Schedule to the Misuse of Drugs Act, Chapter 185, to wit, Morphine, without any authorisation under the said Act or the Regulations made thereunder, and you have thereby committed an offence under Section 8(b)(ii) and punishable under section 33 of the Misuse of Drugs Act, Chapter 185.

2nd Charge

You, ACH, M/15 yrs, DOB: 21.12.1993, are charged that you, on or about the 15th day of July 2009, at about 11.44pm, inside the toilet of Block 512, Bishan Street 13, Level 3, Singapore, together with one SBC, holder of identity card number XXXXXXXXX, in furtherance of the common intention of two of you, did jointly possess a Class ‘A’ controlled drug listed in the First Schedule of the Misuse of Drugs Act, Chapter 185, to wit, one (1) straw containing 0.21 grams of powdery substance which was analysed and found to contain 0.01 grams of Diamorphine, without any authorisation under the said Act or the Regulations made thereunder and you have thereby committed an offence under Section 8(a) of the Misuse of Drugs Act, Chaoter 185 read with Section 34 of the Penal Code, Chapter 224, and punishable under Section 33 of the Misuse of Drugs Act, Chapter 185.

2 He also agreed for the following charge to be taken into consideration for purposes of dispositional order:

3rd Charge

You, ACH, M/15 yrs, DOB: 21.12.1993, are charged that you, sometime between 9th and 10th of July 2009, in the vicinity of Blk 193 Toa Payoh Lorong 4, Singapore, did furnish to one BCG (M/36 yrs), a Singapore passport bearing passport number XXXXXXXXX and particulars issued under ACH, which was lawfully issued to you with reckless disregard as to whether the said Singapore passport would be used by the said BCG for his travel, and you have thereby committed an offence under section 41(3) of the Passports Act (Cap 200), which is an offence punishable under the same section of the said Act.

3 The Juvenile admitted to the Statement of Facts (exhibit “PS1”) without qualification. The salient points are as follows:

(a) The Juvenile and his 16-year-old co-accused were arrested on 15 July 2009 at about 11.44pm, at the third floor toilet of block 512 Bishan Street 13, Singapore on suspicions of drug consumption. A straw of white powdery substance, later established to contain 0.01 grams of diamorphine[note: 1], was found in the co-accused’s front left bermudas pocket.

(b) Investigations revealed that on the day of their arrest, the Juvenile and the co-accused pooled together the sum of S$35.00 to buy the said straw of heroin from an 18-year-old male Chinese known as “Ah Fan”. They were preparing to consume the heroin in the toilet cubicle when they were arrested by the police.

(c) The Juvenile’s urine was also tested and found to contain morphine[note: 2].

4 I found the Juvenile guilty of the charges for which he faced. In mitigation, he informed me that he began taking drugs since January 2009 and got them from his school friends. He consumed drugs around 25 times before his arrest in July 2009. His parents informed me that they stopped him from attending school when they found out that he was taking drugs and sent him to the Institute of Mental Health (“IMH”) for counseling. As such, he only attended school half the time in the first term and was completely absent from school in the second term.

Probation Report

5 Mr Sum Chee Keong, senior probation officer from Probation Services Branch, MCYS, submitted a Probation Report to the Court highlighting the background of the Juvenile and risk factors. The probation officer assessed the Juvenile to be unsuitable for probation.

Family Background

6 The Juvenile comes from a divorced family and lives with his mother, older sister and maternal grandparents in a four-room HDB flat. His 46-year-old father is an aircraft technician earning S$2300.00 per month. The Juvenile is not close to him as he is remarried with a young daughter. The Juvenile reportedly spoke to him only once a month over the phone in 2009.

7 The Juvenile’s mother is 39 years old, self-employed earning around S$3000.00 monthly and shares a close relationship with him. His sister is a first-year junior college student. His maternal grandfather and grandmother are 75 and 73 years of age respectively.

8 According to the probation officer, the Juvenile got along well with his family members until he turned to drugs in January 2009. He became rude and defiant, and his mother became suspicious when he kept asking her for more money. He also started to ignore her reprimands since late 2008 and refused to abide by the curfew of 8pm or 9pm which she set for him. He would switch off his cellphone and remain uncontactable when she tried to call him. On weekdays, he would return home at around 11.00pm and on weekends, it would be past midnight.

9 His sister reported that she knew of his drug habit but did not tell their mother because he had promised her to quit. However, she eventually informed the Mother when she realized that he did not keep his promise.

School Conduct

10 The Juvenile is a Secondary 4 Normal Academic student. He started off in the Express Stream but was laterally transferred to the Normal Stream in January 2009 due to declining school results.

11 According to his school, he displayed poor conduct and was “...irresponsible and unresponsive, inattentive and not hardworking. He was defiant and disrespectful towards the staff. His school attendance was poor as he failed to turn up in school from April to end of July 2009. The Mother explains that she stopped him from going to school as a lot of his school friends were on drugs and she did not want him to mix with them. As a result, the Juvenile spent a lot of time playing computer games at home.

12 According to the Discipline Master (“the DM”), the Juvenile usually kept to himself and did not show interest in his lessons. He reported that the Juvenile was caught for smoking in school several times.

13 The school had also been counseling him with regards to his truancy and lack of interest in his studies since 2006. The school counselor reported that he was receptive to counseling but found it hard to change his attitude and behavior as he was vulnerable to peer influence. In fact, so easily influenced is he and so weak is his peer refusal skills that the DM opined that “...he was at risk of returning to substance abuse”.

History of Substance Abuse

14 The Juvenile admitted that he has been abusing heroin since January 2009. He learnt it from his schoolmates and would consume it twice weekly with his friends at public toilets in the Bishan area. He usually purchased these drugs for S$35.00 per straw from “Ah Fan”. He had also tried a substance known as “ice” before.

12 After his mother found out about his drug-taking, she sent him for counseling at the IMH in May 2009. However, despite that, he continued taking drugs, resulting in his arrest on 15 July 2009.

13 In addition, the Juvenile has been smoking since 2008. He would smoke around 10 sticks daily. He did not plan to stop as he saw...

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