Public Prosecutor v Ainon binte Mohamed Ali

• Jurisdiction: Singapore
• Judge: Ng Cheng Thiam
• Judgment Date: 20 February 2020
• Neutral Citation: [2020] SGMC 7
• Hearing Date: 26 August 2019,01 October 2019
• Citation: [2020] SGMC 7
• Year: 2020
• Court: Magistrates' Court (Singapore)
• Docket Number: MCN 900117/2019 and MCN 900118/2019, Magistrate’s Appeal No. 9244/2019/01
• Defendant Counsel: DPP Andrew Low (Attorney-General's Chambers)
• Published date: 29 February 2020

District Judge Ng Cheng Thiam: Charges

On 26 Aug 2019, the Accused pleaded guilty to the following two charges:

MCN 900117/2019 (marked ‘C1A’)

You, Ainon Binte Mohamed Ali, …, Female/50 years, …, are charged that you, on 15 August 2017, at or about 8.00 pm, at Block 842D Tampines Street 82 #XXX, did voluntarily cause hurt to [the Victim] (Male / 12 years old … …), to wit, by using your knuckles to knock him on his head multiple times and using your right hand to pull and twist his left ear, causing him to sustain bruising and swelling on his head and suffer bodily pain, and you have thereby committed an offence punishable under Section 323 of the Penal Code (Cap 224, 2008 Rev Ed).

MCN 900118/2019 (marked ‘C2A’)

You, Ainon Binte Mohamed Ali, …, Female/50 years, …, are charged that you, on 18 August 2017, at or about 8.00 pm, at Block 842D Tampines Street 82 #XXX, did voluntarily cause hurt to [the Victim] (Male / 12 years old … …), to wit, by using your right hand to pinch both his thighs multiple times, causing him to sustain bruising on his thighs, and you have thereby committed an offence punishable under Section 323 of the Penal Code (Cap 224, 2008 Rev Ed)).

Conviction, Sentence and Appeal

The Accused admitted to the Statement of Facts (“SOF”) (Exhibit P1) without qualification. I found her guilty and convicted her accordingly.

The Accused also admitted to a third charge (MCN 900116/2019 – marked as ‘C3A’) of voluntarily causing hurt to the same victim. The Accused gave her consent to have this third charge taken into consideration for the purposes of sentencing.

In my deliberation on sentence, I have considered the Prosecution’s oral address on sentence and the Defence’s written Plea-in-Mitigation (Exhibit D1) supplemented by oral arguments. I have also studied the various case precedents used by both parties. In the final analysis, I was not convinced by the psychiatric reports adduced by the Defence that there was a causal link between the commission of the offences and the Accused’s mental conditions. As such, I declined to call for a Mandatory Treatment Order suitability report. Having done so, I proceeded to sentence the Accused. I found that a custodial sentence was warranted. I imposed a sentence of four weeks’ imprisonment on each of the two proceeded charges. The two sentences of imprisonment were ordered to run concurrently. Thus, the aggregate sentence is four weeks’ imprisonment.

The Accused was dissatisfied with the said sentences. She has filed an appeal against sentence. She was released on bail pending appeal.

Facts of The Case Background

The Accused, who is currently 51 years old, was working as a Senior Staff Nurse at Sunlove Abode for the Intellectually-Infirmed (see Plea-in-Mitigation at [11]). She gave tuition on a part-time basis (see SOF at [3]).

The Victim was tutored in Mathematics by the Accused. He would go over to the Accused’s place of residence at Block 842D, Tampines Street 82, #XXX, for his Mathematics tuition lessons. He started his first tuition lesson with the Accused on 2 May 2017. Each tuition lesson was from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. The tuition lessons were held together with Accused’s other students. The students were seated around the Accused’s dining table, and the Victim sat next to the Accused, on her right.

The Victim was only 12 years old at the time when the Accused assaulted him.

The Proceeded Charges – Two Incidents of Assault on the Victim MCN 900117/2019 (marked as ‘C1A’)

On 15 August 2017, at about 7 p.m., the Victim went to the Accused’s residence for his Mathematics tuition lesson. At or about 8 p.m., the Accused knocked the Victim on his head with her knuckles several times. This assault caused to the Victim to suffer bruising and swelling on his head. The Accused pulled and twisted the Victim’s left ear with her right hand. This caused the Victim to suffer bodily pain.

That night, the Victim returned home crying. He informed his mother of the assault he had received at the hands of the Accused. His mother checked his head and found some bruising and swelling on his head.

The Victim’s mother sent a text message to the Accused to find out what had happened. The Accused admitted to the Victim’s mother that she had used his knuckles to hit the Victim for making mistakes and getting the wrong answers to the questions that he was given to do.

The Victim’s mother told the Accused not to assault the Victim. Instead, the Accused should inform her so that she could discipline the Victim accordingly. The Accused agreed to do so.

The Victim’s mother decided to let the Victim continue his tuition lessons with the Accused because his examinations were approaching, and the Victim’s mother held the belief that the Accused would not repeat her actions, presumably using physical force to discipline the Victim.

MCN 900118/2019 (marked as ‘C2A’)

On 18 August 2017, at about 7 p.m., the Victim went to the Accused’s residence for his Mathematics tuition lesson. At or about 8 p.m., the Victim made a mistake while answering some questions. This angered the Accused. The Accused used her right hand to pinch both of the Victim’s thighs multiple times. The Victim tried to move away, but the Accused pinched and held onto the Victim’s thighs.

That night, when the Victim was returning to his home, he found some bruises and slight bleeding on his thighs. There were also fingernail marks on his left arm. Upon reaching home, the Victim informed his father. His father took some photographs of the Victim’s injuries.

The Prosecution tendered seven photographs of the Victim (Exhibit P2). The first photograph shows the Victim. The other six photographs show the injuries on the Victim’s inner thighs and left arm. A close-up photograph of the Victim’s left inner thigh shows some dried-up blood surrounded by a very large bruise.

On 19 August 2017, at the Pasir Ris Neighbourhood Police Centre, the Victim’s mother lodged a police report against the Accused for the physical assaults she has committed on the Victim.

Victim’s Medical Reports

The Victim’s medical report (Exhibit P3) was prepared by Dr Wong Jia Min, a Medical Officer with the Department of Emergency Medicine, KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital (“KKH”). The said medical report revealed that the Victim was seen by Dr Glenn Goh at the Children’s Emergency Department of KKH on 20 August 2017 and the following injuries were documented: A 10 cm by 8 cm bruise over his left thigh, with small central areas of superficial abrasions with scab formation. A 9 cm by 6 cm bruise over his left thigh, with small central areas of superficial abrasions with scab formation. Two bruises, measuring 2cm by 1cm, over his right thigh. Two sub-centimetre scabs over his left forearm. Left thigh pain upon extension of his left knee joint.

The medical report also documented that the Victim had complained of residual pain over his head and bruises over both thighs.

The Victim was given six days of medical leave (20 – 25 August 2017). He was referred, amongst other referrals, to the hospital’s Psychosocial Trauma Support Service (“PTSS”).

The Prosecution also adduced a report on the Victim by PTSS (hereinafter referred to as the ‘PTSS report’). The PTSS report (Exhibit P4) was prepared by Lim Xin Yi, Senior Principal Psychologist and Head of PTSS. The most pertinent paragraph of the PTSS report is reproduced in its entirety below: 4. At initial presentation, [the victim] presented with some symptoms of post-traumatic stress since the alleged physical abuse. [The victim] reported re-experiencing symptoms such as having nightmares about the alleged physical abuse (about once a week), and thinking about the alleged physical abuse when he sees people fight or he hears people say the Malay word "sedap" (a word frequently said by the tuition teacher when he was physically abused by her). He reported feeling very upset whenever he was reminded about what happened. [The victim] said he felt angry towards the tuition teacher and some self-blame, for not being able to physically protect himself during the episodes of physical abuse. He avoided talking about the alleged physical abuse especially with friends, and would stay away from Tampines, which is where the tuition teacher's home was located. [The victim] was also very hesitant to start tuition with another tuition teacher, especially when it would be at the tuition teacher's place. [The victim's] mother reported similar concerns about [the victim’s] presenting difficulties. In addition, she said that [the victim] was more irritable at home, and seemed to have a drop in his appetite, and required more encouragement to finish his food during mealtimes.

The Victim was seen by Dr Cai Yiming (“Dr Cai”), an Emeritus Consultant with the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at the Institute of Mental Health (“IMH”). The Victim was already 13 years old and attending school at secondary one level when he saw Dr Cai. Dr Cai prepared a report on the Victim (hereinafter referred to as the ‘IMH report’). The IMH report (Exhibit P5) was also adduced by the Prosecution. The relevant portions of the IMH report are reproduced below: 4. … … The worse incident was in August 2017 when the accused used fingers to “grab and pinch” his inner thigh over his pants very hard as she asked him whether it was “sedap, sedap (Malay words for nice)” ? As he left the home of the accused and went into the lift, he realised that had bleeding in his thighs. 5. Following the alleged offence, he had developed fear of going for private tuition again. He also had dreams in which he saw the accused scolding and hitting him in his sleeps. He tried to forget these past incidents.

The Accused’s Antecedent

The Accused has a previous conviction in 1999. This was for an offence of Voluntarily Causing Hurt to a Domestic Maid under section...