Public Prosecutor v Chang Kar Meng

• Jurisdiction: Singapore
• Judge: Tay Yong Kwang J
• Judgment Date: 25 June 2015
• Neutral Citation: [2015] SGHC 165
• Citation: [2015] SGHC 165
• Court: High Court (Singapore)
• Published date: 07 April 2017
• Docket Number: Criminal Case No 28 of 2015
• Plaintiff Counsel: Zhong Zewei and Kelly Ho (Attorney-General's Chambers)
• Defendant Counsel: Sunil Sudheesan and Diana Ngiam (Quahe Woo & Palmer LLC)
• Subject Matter: Criminal Law,Offences,Rape,Property,Robbery
• Hearing Date: 28 May 2015

Tay Yong Kwang J:

The accused is a male Malaysian born on 30 January 1988. He pleaded guilty to the following two charges (with the female victim’s name and particulars redacted):

That you, CHANG KAR MENG,

1ST CHARGE

on the 8th day of March 2013, at or about 1.30a.m., at the grass patch in the vicinity of Blk [X] Paya Lebar Way, Singapore, did penetrate with your penis, the vagina of one [V], female / 33 years old (D.O.B: [X] [X] 1980), without her consent, and you have thereby committed an offence under s 375(1)(a) of the Penal Code (Cap 224, 2008 Rev Ed), punishable under s 375(2) of the Penal Code (Cap 224, 2008 Rev Ed).

2ND CHARGE

on the 8th day of March 2013, at or about 1.30a.m., at the ground floor lift landing of Blk [X] Paya Lebar Way, Singapore, did commit robbery of the following items: 1) one gold necklace with a jade pendant valued at approximately S$760; 2) one Samsung Galaxy S3 mobile phone valued at approximately S$500; 3) cash amounting to approximately S$300; 4) one silver ring valued at approximately S$250; 5) one brown sling bag valued at approximately S$100; 6) one red Casio watch valued at approximately S$90; 7) one pair of gold earrings valued at approximately S$70; 8) one brown ‘Toscano’ purse valued at approximately S$60; 9) one pair of spectacles valued at approximately S$60; 10) one EZ-link card with a stored value of approximately S$10; and 11) cosmetics valued at approximately S$10

with a total approximate value of S$2,210 from the possession of one [V], and in committing the said robbery, did voluntarily cause hurt to the said [V], to wit, by hitting her a few times on the back of her neck near her right shoulder with your hand, and you have thereby committed an offence punishable under s 394 of the Penal Code (Cap 224, 2008 Rev Ed).

The maximum punishment provided for rape (first charge) is 20 years’ imprisonment, with the offender also liable to fine or to caning. For the offence of robbery with hurt (second charge), the offender shall be punished with imprisonment of not less than five years and not more than 20 years and shall also be punished with caning of not less than 12 strokes.

The accused admitted the following charge and consented that it be taken into consideration for the purpose of sentence:

3RD CHARGE

on the 21st day of August 2013, at Blk [X] Geylang East Ave 1, #[X], Singapore, did have in your possession one black Nike brand sports bra and one white dress with grey linings, which may be reasonably suspected of being stolen, and you failed to account satisfactorily how you came by the same, and you have thereby committed an offence punishable under s 35(1) of the Miscellaneous Offences (Public Order and Nuisance) Act (Cap 184, 1997 Rev Ed).

I sentenced the accused to undergo imprisonment of 12 years and to receive 12 strokes of the cane for the first charge. For the second charge, I imposed the minimum sentence provided by law, imprisonment for 5 years and 12 strokes of the cane. I also ordered both imprisonment terms to run consecutively with effect from 21 August 2013, the date of arrest. The total sentence was therefore 17 years’ imprisonment and 24 strokes of the cane, the maximum number of strokes permissible by law.

The Statement of Facts

The accused admitted all the facts set out in the following Statement of Facts: A. THE ACCUSED 1. The accused is Chang Kar Meng (FIN.: [X]), a 27-year-old male Malaysian born on 30 January 1988. At the time of the offences, the accused was 25 years old and was the kitchen-in-charge at DOME Coffee located in Raffles Place, Singapore. He resided with his girlfriend at a rental unit at Blk [X] Geylang East Avenue 1, Singapore. B. THE VICTIM 2. The victim is [V] (FIN.: [X]), a 35-year-old Vietnamese female born on [X] [X] 1980. At the time of the offences, the victim was 33 years old and was unrelated to the accused. She resided with her Singaporean husband at an apartment unit at Blk [X] Paya Lebar Way, Singapore (“the Block”). The victim met her husband in Vietnam and came to Singapore to be with him in 2008. The victim was working as a waitress, and her working hours were from 5.30pm to 1.00am. The victim would usually take a bus to work and take a taxi back home from work. C. FIRST INFORMATION REPORT 3. On 8 March 2013, at about 2.46am, the victim’s husband called the emergency Police hotline and reported, “WIFE GOT BEATEN AT THE BACK OF HER HEAD AND THE PERSON TOOKED (sic) HER BACK (sic). HER PHONE IS IN THE BAG. HER PHONE NUMBER IS [X]. THE GUY IS FAIR AND WEARING BLACK SHORTS AND CARRYING A SLING BAG.” The incident location was given as the void deck of the Block. Police officers were despatched to the incident location. 4. Before the Police arrived, the accused started to run away from the scene. When police officers arrived, they spotted the accused who fitted the description provided by the victim’s husband. They chased after the accused, but lost sight of him. 5. The police officers interviewed the victim who informed them that she had been raped and robbed by the accused. The victim was then sent to KK Women’s & Children’s Hospital (“KKH”) for a medical check-up. D. FACTS LEADING TO THE CHARGES 6. On 7 March 2013, the victim reached her workplace at 5.00pm and started working till 1.15am when she left her workplace and took a taxi home. She alighted at the open space carpark near the Block and walked towards the Block while reading news on her mobile phone. She then arrived at the ground floor lift lobby, pressed the lift button and waited for the lift to arrive. 7. On 7 March 2013, the accused went to work at his workplace. At around 11.00pm that night, the accused went to Macpherson food centre for a meal. Whilst he was in the midst of his meal, the accused received a call from his girlfriend telling him that she would treat him to a meal at McDonald’s. The accused then told her to wait for him there and that he would make his way over. He then continued eating his meal and left to meet his girlfriend at or about 1.00am. As he was on the way to meet his girlfriend at McDonald’s, he received a call from his girlfriend saying that she was not going to wait for him any longer and would be going home. 8. The accused thus headed home and was walking up the overhead bridge in front of the Block when he heard some noise behind him. He turned around and saw the victim walking along the void deck of the Block. The accused noticed that the victim was carrying a sling bag and looking at her mobile phone. This was at or about 1.30am on 8 March 2013. E. FACTS RELATING TO THE 1ST CHARGE 9. The accused observed that there was no one around and decided to rob the victim as he was short of money. He got off the overhead bridge and removed his slippers. After placing his slippers in the bushes near the bridge, he walked quickly towards the ground floor lift landing, making as little sound as possible. He approached the victim from behind and covered her mouth with his left hand to prevent her from shouting. He then voluntarily caused hurt to the victim, by using his right hand to hit the back of the victim’s neck near her right shoulder. In doing so, the accused intended to make her unconscious, so that he could rob her. He had seen this being done in movies. After being hit, the victim felt dizzy. She felt the accused’s hand hitting her on the same spot a few more times after the initial blow. The victim then felt the accused’s arm hugging her around the waist before she fainted and collapsed to the ground. 10. After the victim had fallen to the ground, the accused saw that the lift was approaching the ground floor and wanted to drag the victim to the right side of the lift entrance to avoid being captured on the closed-circuit television (“CCTV”) inside the lift. The accused was not sure if there was a CCTV inside the lift but wanted to play it safe. Just as he was about to drag the victim away, the lift door opened. The accused lowered his head to prevent his face from being captured by the CCTV. The CCTV inside the lift showed the victim lying on the ground outside the lift, with the accused kneeling beside her and pinning her down. In the process, the victim’s Polo t-shirt was lifted, exposing her bra. It was only after the lift doors closed that he half-carried and half-dragged the victim to the right side of the lift entrance. 11. As the accused was dragging the victim, he noticed that she was still holding onto her mobile phone and took it from her hand. He then lifted the victim up so that he could remove her sling bag and took her sling bag. He then also removed her watch, earrings, necklace, and ring. 12. In all, the accused took the following items out of the victim’s possession: a. one gold necklace with a jade pendant valued at approximately S$760; b. one Samsung Galaxy S3 mobile phone valued at approximately S$500; c. cash amounting to approximately S$300; d. one silver ring valued at approximately S$250; e. one brown sling bag valued at approximately S$100; f. one red Casio watch valued at approximately S$90; g. one pair of gold earrings valued at approximately S$70; h. one brown ‘Toscano’ purse valued at approximately S$60; i. one pair of spectacles valued at approximately S$60; j. one EZ-link card with a stored value of approximately S$10; and k. cosmetics valued at approximately S$10

with a total approximate value of S$2,210. All of these items were taken from the victim’s possession without her consent.

F. FACTS RELATING TO THE 2ND CHARGE 13. As the accused lifted the victim, he came into contact with her body. He became aroused and had an erection. The accused observed that the victim had no reaction at all when he took her belongings. 14. The accused laid the victim back onto the ground and looked around to confirm that no one...