Public Prosecutor v Hamidah bte Awang and another

• Jurisdiction: Singapore
• Judge: Lee Seiu Kin J
• Judgment Date: 16 October 2015
• Neutral Citation: [2015] SGHC 270
• Court: High Court (Singapore)
• Docket Number: Criminal Case No 32 of 2014
• Year: 2015
• Published date: 21 October 2015
• Hearing Date: 08 October 2015
• Plaintiff Counsel: Ng Cheng Thiam and Chee Min Ping (Attorney-General's Chambers)
• Defendant Counsel: Amolat Singh (Amolat & Partners) and Supramaniam Rajan (Hilborne Law LLC)
• Subject Matter: Criminal law,statutory offences,Misuse of Drugs Act
• Citation: [2015] SGHC 270

Lee Seiu Kin J:

The first accused, Hamidah Binte Awang, was tried before me on various dates between 10 September and 6 November 2014. On 5 November 2014 I found her guilty of attempting to export not less than 1,963.3 g of methamphetamine, an offence under s 7 read with s 12 of the Misuse of Drugs Act (Cap 185, 2008 Rev Ed) (“the Act”). Full details of the trial and my findings are in my grounds of decision in Public Prosecutor v Hamidah Binte Awang and another [2015] SGHC 4 dated 8 January 2015.

On 8 October 2015, the first accused was brought before me for sentencing. The learned Deputy produced a memorandum in which the Public Prosecutor certified that she had substantively assisted the Central Narcotics Bureau in disrupting drug trafficking activities within or outside Singapore, under s 33B(2)(b) of the Act. I was satisfied from the evidence before me in the trial that the involvement of the first accused was restricted to the activities set out in s 33B(2)(a). The accused therefore satisfied the requirements of s 33B(2).

In view of the circumstances of the case, I exercised my discretion under s 33B(1)(a) of the Act to sentence the first accused to imprisonment for life instead of the death penalty. As she is a female, she is not liable to be caned. I also exercised my discretion to backdate the sentence to the date of her arrest on 13 November 2011. That is the minimum sentence that I am able to impose for her conviction.

The accused has appealed against her sentence on 14 October 2015.

---