Neo Man Lee v Public Prosecutor
| Jurisdiction | Singapore |
| Judge | Goh Joon Seng J |
| Judgment Date | 30 May 1991 |
| Neutral Citation | [1991] SGCA 13 |
| Docket Number | Criminal Appeal No 10 of 1989 |
| Date | 30 May 1991 |
| Year | 1991 |
| Published date | 19 September 2003 |
| Plaintiff Counsel | Appellant in person |
| Citation | [1991] SGCA 13 |
| Defendant Counsel | Jasvender Kaur (Deputy Public Prosecutor) |
| Court | Court of Appeal (Singapore) |
| Subject Matter | Accused suffering from chronic schizophrenia,Life imprisonment,Conviction on charge of culpable homicide not amounting to murder,Whether sentence of life imprisonment justified,Sentencing,Criminal Procedure and Sentencing,Forms of punishment,s 304(a) Penal Code (Cap 224) |
Cur Adv Vult
The appellant was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment with effect from 27 September 1984 on a charge of culpable homicide not amounting to murder, an offence punishable under s 304 of the Penal Code (Cap 224). He appealed against sentence.
On 4 September 1984 at the Westpeak Condothe appellant stabbed a 29-year-old woman and caused her death. The deceased had been in the swimming pool of the condominium together with her husband, nephews and niece. At about 8.45pm she came out of the swimming pool and went to the ladies` changing room to change. In the changing room, she was attacked by the appellant with a knife. Another resident of Westpeak Condominium was near the swimming pool at the time and heard the deceased scream. He ran towards the entrance of the changing room and saw the appellant running out naked. He attempted to strike the appellant with a squash racket which he was carrying, and was stabbed by the appellant on his chin and his left hand. The appellant then fled.
The deceased had in all 21 injuries - three stab wounds, five bruises, 12 incised wounds and some loss of skin on her nose. The fatal injury was a stab would in her left chest which penetrated the left lung to a depth of 7.5cm to 8.5cm. The cause of death was certified to be `left haemothorax due to stab wound of the left lung`.
The appellant was arrested on 27 September 1984. After a trial which stretched from 3 October 1988 to 25 May 1989 he was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment under s 304(a) of the Penal Code with effect from the date of his arrest. Section 304 reads as follows:
Whoever commits culpable homicide not amounting to murder shall be punished:
(a) with imprisonment for life, or imprisonment for a term which may extend to 10 years, and shall also be liable to fine or to caning, if the act by which death is caused is done with the intention of causing death, or of causing such bodily injury as is likely to cause death; or
(b) with imprisonment for a term which may extend to 10 years, or with fine, or with both, if the act is done with the knowledge that it is likely to cause death, but without any intention to cause death, or to cause such bodily injury as is likely to cause death.
Before he was charged at the commencement of the trial, the appellant was medically examined by a psychiatrist at the request of his counsel and the psychiatrist was of the opinion that he was mentally fit to stand...
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