Public Prosecutor v Su Chee Kiong

• Jurisdiction: Singapore
• Judge: Tay Yong Kwang JC
• Judgment Date: 12 October 1998
• Neutral Citation: [1998] SGHC 338
• Citation: [1998] SGHC 338
• Court: High Court (Singapore)
• Plaintiff Counsel: Terence Chua assisted by Sellakumaran s/o Sellamuthoo (Attorney-General's Chambers)
• Defendant Counsel: Sng Kheng Huat (Sng & Co) (briefed) assisted by Winston Mok (Winstok Mok & Co) (assigned)
• Published date: 27 March 2013

Judgment :

GROUNDS OF DECISION

1 The Accused was tried and convicted of the following charge:

"That you, SU CHEE KIONG

on or about the 9^th day of January 1998, at about 10.30 pm, at Block 158 Mei Ling Street #07-86, Singapore, did traffic in a controlled drug specified in Class "A" of the First Schedule of the Misuse of Drugs Act, Chapter 185, to wit, by having in your possession for the purpose of trafficking, substance containing not less than 81.62 grams of diamorphine at the said premises, without any authorisation under the said Act or the regulations made thereunder, and you have thereby committed an offence under Section 5(1)(a) read with section 5(2) of the Misuse of Drugs Act and punishable under section 33 of the said Act."

He was sentenced to suffer the mandatory death penalty.

THE CASE FOR THE PROSECUTION

2 On 9 January 1998, at about 6.30 pm, Insp Soh Koh Tong (PW 9) led a team of four CNB officers to raid Block 158 Mei Ling Street #08-76, a HDB flat. The four officers were:

(1) Sgt Kho Hock Ann;

(2) Sgt Henson Wee Oon Ho;

(3) Cpl Samuel Poh Chee Wee; and

(4) Cpl Daniel Gan Wee Teck;

One Tia Kok Hua was arrested in the said raid. Tia’s case had no connection with the Accused’s case and this was not the flat which was the subject of the charge, although both were in the same block and coincidentally shared the same numerals.

3 At about 7.30 pm, while the team was in the flat, they received information that one "San Por Keong" was at the ground floor of the said block of flats and that he was wearing a green polo shirt and a pair of light blue jeans. Insp Soh instructed Cpl Samuel Poh and Cpl Daniel Gan to proceed to the ground floor to arrest him.

4 At about 7.45 pm, the two corporals brought the Accused to the flat. They said they had arrested him at the ground floor. They searched him and found :

(1) 5 sachets of granular substance, wrapped in a piece of paper, in the Accused’s left trousers pocket (not the subject of the Charge);

(2) a pager;

(3) a phone-card;

(4) cash amounting to $1,189 from the shirt pocket and the back pocket of the Accused’s trousers;

(5) a bunch of four keys in the Accused’s right trousers pocket.

5 Sgt Kho questioned the Accused. He denied that he was residing at the said block and claimed that he lived in Teck Whye.

6 Insp Soh then called Insp Francis Jayaraje and asked him to go to the said flat. Insp Soh and Sgt Kho then left for a carpark in the vicinity leaving the other three CNB officers together with the Accused in the flat.

7 At about 8.15 pm, Sgt Henson Wee and Cpl Samuel Poh joined Insp Soh and Sgt Kho at the carpark. They were at the carpark to apprehend another suspect who, however, did not show up. They told Insp Soh and Sgt Kho that the Accused and Tia Kok Hua were being taken by Insp Francis and his team to the Divisional Headquarters. Cpl Daniel Gan accompanied them as he had the seized exhibits.

8 At about 9 pm, the four CNB officers left the carpark for the Divisional Headquarters. A short while after they arrived, Insp Francis handed to Insp Soh the bunch of four keys seized from the Accused. Insp Soh then left with Sgt Kho, Sgt Henson Wee, Cpl Daniel Gan and the Accused for Teck Whye Lane.

9 The team (except Sgt Kho who remained in the car) raided Block 26 Teck Whye Lane #11-178 in the presence of the Accused. Insp Soh tested the set of four keys on the locks of the gate and the door but none fitted. They searched the flat but found nothing incriminating.

10 They then left Teck Whye Lane and proceeded to Block 158, Mei Ling Street again. Insp Soh asked Sgt Henson Wee to see whether what appeared to be a letter box key among the four seized keys fitted any of the letter boxes of the flats. A short while later, Sgt Henson Wee returned and said that the key fitted the letter box of #07-87. Insp Soh knew that there was no #07-87 in that block as all the flats had even numbers. He tried the key on the letter box of #07-78 and managed to open the lid but could not close it.

11 The team then proceeded to the seventh floor of the block, intending to try the bunch of four keys on the door lock of #07-78. When they arrived at the seventh floor, the Accused told Insp Soh that his flat was on the left side of the corridor and led the team to #07-86 (the flat mentioned in the charge). Insp Soh used one of the four keys to open the main door of that flat, which was a two-bedroom apartment.

12 They found the following on the floor of the living room:

(1) some granular substance in an unsealed sachet;

(2) a green plastic container with some granular substance and a metal spoon;

(3) a straw of granular substance;

(4) two stained straws and one stained packet;

(5) two stained tin foils; and

(6) nine rolled-up papers, two disposable lighters, three pairs of scissors, a pair of tweezers and a butter knife.

13 The team also found the following items on the shelf attached to the wall of the living room:

(1) a sealer; and

(2) a phial of powdery substance.

14 On the round table in the living room, they recovered:

(1) a Tanita digital weighing scale; and

(2) a notebook.

Both were kept in a plastic packet.

15 In the inner of the two bedrooms, they found the Accused’s identity card on the bed.

16 Sgt Kho then informed Insp Soh that he had found the following in the kitchen of the flat:

(1) two plastic containers containing granular substance and a plastic spoon each on the lower shelf of the kitchen cabinet;

(2) a green-coloured kitchen weighing scale on the upper shelf of that cabinet;

(3) a sachet of granular substance in the top drawer of that cabinet;

(4) a yellow plastic bag containing empty sachets in the bottom drawer of that cabinet;

(5) a red pail containing a packet of granular substance, wrapped with an envelope, on the kitchen floor; and

(6) a plastic bag containing another plastic bag with a sealer and a Tanita digital weighing scale with its cover.

17 Insp Soh brought the Accused, escorted by Sgt Henson Wee, to the kitchen. Insp Soh pointed to the two plastic containers of granular substance in the kitchen cabinet and asked the Accused several questions which the Accused answered. The questions and answers were in the Hokkien dialect and were recorded by Insp Soh in his pocket book as follows:

Q1 : Chit Lay See Sit Mit? (What is this?)

A1 : Leow (Thing).

Q2 : Sit Mit See Leow? (What is leow?)

A2 : Peh Hoon (White Powder).

Q3 : Lua Chuay? (How much?)

A3 : Mern Chai (Don’t know). Hor Kia Cho Eh (Hor Kia do it).

Insp Soh interpreted the above to the Accused in Hokkien who then signed at the bottom of the relevant pages of the pocket diary. The Accused did not elaborate on who "Hor Kia" was.

18 At about 11.15 pm, two of the Accused’s sisters arrived at the flat. At about 12.15 am (10 January 1998), Insp Francis arrived at the flat with his officers and Cpl Samuel Poh. They then left for Divisional Headquarters with the Accused’s sisters in order to interview them.

19 At about 12.30 am, the Investigation Officer, Insp Gopala Krishnan, arrived at the flat. He was briefed by Insp Soh on the occurrences and he then took over the Accused’s identity card and the bunch of four keys.

20 Officers from the Scene of Crime Unit also arrived to take photographs of the scene and the exhibits.

21 At about 1.45 am, Insp Soh instructed Cpl Samuel Poh to return to Divisional Headquarters to retrieve the exhibits seized earlier from the person of the Accused. Cpl Samuel Poh left and returned at about 2.05 am with the exhibits mentioned in paragraph 4 of this judgment (save for the four keys which had been taken by Insp Soh earlier). They were then handed over to the Investigation Officer.

22 At about 2.40 am, Insp Soh left with his team of four CNB officers and the Accused for CNB Headquarters where the Accused’s urine samples were obtained, sealed and marked. All of them then headed for the Major Investigation Branch of CNB.

23 Insp Soh added that when the Accused was shown the mentioned exhibits in the living room and in the kitchen, he did not show any reaction or surprise. When questioned about the clothes found in the inner bedroom (both inside and outside the wardrobe), the Accused told Insp Soh that they belonged to him. There was no indication that anyone other than the Accused had been living in the flat. This question and answer was however omitted in Insp Soh’s pocket book.

24 Under cross-examination, Insp Soh explained that the arrest of Tia Kok Hua (at flat #08-76, as stated in paragraph 2 of this judgment) was actually a "bonus" as the target of their operations that night was in fact the Accused and one Lau Hor Kia or Ow Kwong Hoi. The team of officers had gone to #08-76 thinking that that was where the Accused was living. The only information about the Accused was that he was thin. They also had information that Lau Hor Kia drove a car and was residing in Block 157 Mei Ling Street, adjacent to the block where the Accused was residing in. Asked whether Lau Hor Kia’s car was a Nissan with registration number SBQ 6054 S and whether his pager number was 95723910, Insp Soh said he could not remember the numbers. However, he confirmed that they were looking for Lau Hor Kia’s vehicle when they went to the carpark in the vicinity of Block 158. The team led by Insp Francis had gone to Lau Hor Kia’s residence at #09-72 in Block 157 but did not arrest anybody.

25 When the Accused was first arrested and brought up to #08-76, Insp Soh believed Sgt Kho asked a few questions of the Accused although he could not recall what the questions were. He disagreed that the Accused was assaulted twice by Sgt Kho who allegedly placed a telephone directory over the Accused’s chest and punched it when the Accused was not forthcoming with answers.

26 In #07-86 (the Accused’s flat), Insp Soh asked the Accused about the two containers of granular substance in the kitchen only because the amount therein was substantial. He agreed that...