Public Prosecutor v Ho Chai Sng Stephen
Jurisdiction | Singapore |
Judge | Kenneth Yap |
Judgment Date | 18 August 2020 |
Neutral Citation | [2020] SGDC 193 |
Court | District Court (Singapore) |
Docket Number | District Arrest Case—DAC 942238/2016, DAC 943997/2016, DAC 943999/2016 and DAC 946155 to 946157/2016, Magistrate’s Appeal No. 9050/2019/01 |
Year | 2020 |
Published date | 26 August 2020 |
Hearing Date | 25 October 2018,19 October 2018,29 January 2019,27 July 2018,14 August 2018,25 July 2018,13 August 2018,26 July 2018,19 February 2019,05 March 2018,24 October 2018 |
Plaintiff Counsel | DPP Ashraf Bin Hassan |
Defendant Counsel | Mr Selva Kumara Naidu (M/s Liberty Law Practice LLP) |
Citation | [2020] SGDC 193 |
The accused claimed trial to six charges for theft of motorcycles under s 379A of the Penal Code (Cap. 224). He was convicted after trial and sentenced to nine years of corrective training, and disqualified from obtaining or holding a driving licence for nine years after the date of his release. He has appealed against conviction and sentence, and is presently on bail pending appeal.
The Charges Section 379A of the Penal Code provides as follows:
The accused faced the following charges:
The Prosecution’s Case
The First Charge – DAC 942238-2016 (the Woodlands Suzuki GSX charge) You … are charged that you between 21 November 2016 at or about 2.00 pm to 22 November 2016 at or about 6.30 am, at the multi storey car park of Blk 588A Woodlands Drive 16, Singapore, did commit theft of a black/silver Suzuki GSX motorcycle bearing registration number FBL 393 D, valued at about $26,000/- in the possession of one Imbadullah Bin Mohamed Raffick and you have thereby committed an offence punishable under Section 379A of the Penal Code (Cap 224, 2008 Rev Ed).
The Second Charge – DAC 943997-2016 (the Woodlands Harvey HUG charge) You … are charged that you between 19 November 2016 at or about 7.00 pm to 21 November 2016 at or about 10.30 am, at the multi storey car park of Blk 614A Woodlands Avenue 4, Singapore, did commit theft of a black “Harley Davidson” XLH HUG motorcycle bearing registration number FQ 5116 G, valued at about $8,500/- in the possession of one Jamale Bin Sumari and you have thereby committed an offence punishable under Section 379A of the Penal Code (Cap 224, 2008 Rev Ed).
The Third Charge – DAC 943999-2016 (the Woodlands Yamaha VMAX charge) You … are charged that you between 21 November 2016 at or about 4.00 am to 21 November 2016 at or about 3.00 pm, at the multi storey car park of Blk 687 Woodlands Drive 75, Singapore, did commit theft of a black “Yamaha” VMAX motorcycle bearing registration number FL 358 J, valued at about $7,500/- in the possession of one Ibrahim Bin Allaudin and you have thereby committed an offence punishable under Section 379A of the Penal Code (Cap 224, 2008 Rev Ed).
The Fourth Charge – DAC 946155-2016 (the Paya Ubi Harley) charge You … are charged that you between 21 October 2016 at or about 12.00 pm to 24 October 2016 at or about 11.20 am, at Level 3 of Blk 53 Ubi Ave 1, Paya Ubi Industrial Estate, Singapore, did commit theft of a black “Harley Davidson” motorcycle bearing registration number FN 9120 H, valued at about $8,500/- in the possession of one Matthew Lim Ching Ming and you have thereby committed an offence punishable under Section 379A of the Penal Code (Cap 224, 2008 Rev Ed).
The Fifth Charge – DAC 946156-2016 (the Sin Ming Harley charge) You … are charged that you between 10 November 2016 at or about 11.00 am to 13 November 2016 at or about 8.00 pm, at the open space car park of No. 10 Sin Ming Drive, Singapore, did commit theft of a black “Harley Davidson” motorcycle bearing registration number FBB 3229 D, valued at about $8,000/- in the possession of one Starki and you have thereby committed an offence punishable under Section 379A of the Penal Code (Cap 224, 2008 Rev Ed).
The Sixth Charge - DAC 946157-2016 (the Woodsvale Condo Harley charge) You … are charged that you between 28 July 2015 at or about 1.00 pm, to 11 January 2016 at or about 9.00 am, at the basement car park of No. 19 Woodlands Drive 72, Woodsvale Condominium, Singapore, did commit theft of a black “Harley Davidson” motorcycle bearing registration number FBD 7651 E, valued at about $8,000/- in the possession of one Rashpal Singh S/O Piara Singh and you have thereby committed an offence punishable under Section 379A of the Penal Code (Cap 224, 2008 Rev Ed).
The Prosecution called six witnesses at trial to testify, namely:
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According to the prosecution, there was overwhelming evidence pointing to the accused’s theft of motorcycles on all six counts:
The accused challenged the admissibility of nine of his statements (PS 1 – 9) at an ancillary hearing on the grounds that they were made under threat, inducement or promise. At the close of the ancillary hearing, I was satisfied that they were made voluntarily and admitted the following nine statements, for reasons which I shall provide later.
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The statements are integral to the prosecution’s case, and the exact content of the statements and other evidence adduced by the prosecution in support of each individual charge is detailed in the following sections.
The First Charge (the Woodlands Suzuki GSX charge)The prosecution’s case in respect of this charge was that sometime between 21 November 2016 at or about 2 pm to 22 November 2016 at or about 6.30 am, both the accused and David drove to a carpark in Woodlands to steal the Suzuki GSX motorcycle, valued at $26,000, belonging to one Imbadullah Bin Mohamed Raffick.
In PS1 (at [10] and [12]), the accused admitted that on 21 November 2016, David came to the accused’s shop and they both agreed to go out to look for motorcycles to steal. David drove the accused in a van to the multi-storey car park at Blk 588A Woodlands Drive 16. When they arrived, they saw a black/silver Suzuki GSX motorcycle bearing registration number FBL 393D parked in the car park. They alighted from the vehicle, whereupon David set up a plank against the van and they both pushed the motorcycle into the van. Thereafter, they travelled in the van to No. 89 Short Street where the motorcycle was unloaded at the sixth floor office of the accused.
In PS2 (at [Q1 – A3]), the accused continued the account and said that David left after he was paid $500 by the accused. He recounted how he then proceeded to dismantle the parts of the motorcycle and wrapped them in plastic wrap. His intention was to protect the parts and thereafter get a buyer for the motorcycle. The next day, on 22 November 2016, the accused texted an Indonesian contact to look for a buyer. There was negotiation on the price but no agreement was reached. That very night, the accused was arrested by police officers who raided his fifth floor office, where he was working on his DVD and CD printing machine. When questioned in his Further Long Statement (PS3), the accused again confirmed the theft and recounted how he had led the police officers to recover the motorcycle at the location he had placed it before he could find a buyer1.
The account provided by the accused was confirmed by David in the Statement of Facts (“SOF”) admitted with his plea of guilt for aiding and abetting the accused on this same charge. David admitted in the SOPF (P12 at [5]) that he had agreed to help the accused steal motorcycles, for which he would receive a $500 cut for every motorcycle stolen. He explained that the
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