Public Prosecutor v Lim Jiang Hao

• Jurisdiction: Singapore
• Judge: Salina Bte Ishak
• Judgment Date: 13 June 2016
• Neutral Citation: [2016] SGDC 149
• Court: District Court (Singapore)
• Docket Number: DAC 933310—2015 & 5 Ors, Magistrate’s Appeal No 9119/2016/01
• Year: 2016
• Published date: 15 June 2016
• Hearing Date: 23 May 2016
• Plaintiff Counsel: Lim Shin Hui
• Defendant Counsel: Anand Nalachandran & Tan Tho Eng of TSMP Law Corporation
• Citation: [2016] SGDC 149

District Judge Salina Bte Ishak: The Charges

The Accused, Mr Lim Jiang Hao, a 23-year-old Singaporean, had pleaded guilty on 23 May 2016 to DAC 933310-2015, a charge of importing cannabis, a Class A controlled drug namely:

sometime between 7 to 9 September 2015, did engage with one Nastasia Tay Na and one Pang Neng Sieng in a conspiracy to import cannabis, a controlled drug specified in Class “A” of the Misuse of Drugs Act (Cap 185, 2008 Rev Ed), and in pursuance of that conspiracy and in order to the doing of that thing, an act took place on 9 September 2015, at or about 12.40 p.m., when the said Pang Neng Sieng did import into Singapore, at Woodlands Checkpoint, Singapore, five (05) blocks containing not less than 89.07 grams of vegetable matter which was analysed and found to be cannabis, without authorization under the said Act or the regulations made thereunder, and you have thereby abetted the offence of importation of the said cannabis into Singapore, which act was committed in consequence of his abetment, an offence under Section 7 read with Section 12 of the Misuse of Drugs Act (Cap 185, 2008 Rev Ed) and punishable under Section 33(1) of the said Act

Five other charges of importation of various Class A controlled drugs in DAC 940390 - 2015 to DAC 940394 -2015, namely 2.70 grams of methoxetamine, 0.22 grams of methamphetamine, 137.00 grams of cannabis mixture, 1.36 grams of 4-chloromethcathinone (or its chloro positional isomer in the phenyl ring) and 1.34 grams of ethylone were taken into consideration for the purpose of sentencing. Summary of Facts

The Accused had admitted to the following Statement of Facts (“Exhibit PS1”) without qualification.

Statement of Facts

1. The accused is Lim Jiang Hao (“the accused”). He is a male aged 23 (D.O.B. 13 January 1993). He holds a Singapore identity card bearing the number SXXXX438C. He resides at Block 56 Cassia Crescent, Singapore. 2. The co- accused are: a. Pang Neng Sieng, a 32-year-old male Malaysian citizen (“Pang”). He holds a foreign identity card bearing the Foreign Identification number GXXXX805M. b. Nastasia Tay Na, a 23-year-old Singapore citizen holding a Singapore identity card bearing the number SXXXX214B (“Nash”). A. BACKGROUND FACTS 3. On 9 September 2015, at or about 12.40 pm, at Woodlands Checkpoint, Singapore, Pang was a passenger in a Singapore-registered taxi SHC3720A when he was subjected to a routine check before he was arrested for suspected drug offence(s). 4. A search was conducted on him and items, including a box in a red plastic bag with five blocks of vegetable matter in it (subsequently marked “PNS-A4A1A1”) were found in his possession and seized accordingly. The seized items were sealed in tamper-proof bags. 5. Pang knew that the exhibit marked “PNS-A4A1A1” was “Cao” or “Ganja” (street name for Cannabis). Pang had received the said exhibit packed in the box from a female subject known to Pang as Nash (subsequently ascertained to be one Nastasia Tay Na) on 8 September 2015 at Century Garden in the vicinity of the KSL Shopping mall in Johor Bahru, Malaysia. Nash told Pang that the said exhibit was cannabis and assured him that the amount of it would not render him liable to the death penalty. She also told him that the box was sealed in a way such that the sniffer dogs would not be able to detect the drugs. 6. Pang had entered Singapore from Malaysia by land onboard the said taxi which he had hired in Johor, Malaysia. Accordingly, Pang had imported the aforesaid exhibits into Singapore by bringing them into Singapore by land. 7. On 9 September 2015, Pang was instructed by Nash to deliver the exhibit marked “PNS-A4A1A1”, and other drug exhibits to Block 56 Cassia Crescent, Singapore and other location(s) in Singapore in return for S$500. Nash would only notify Pang of the subsequent location(s) after he had completed delivery to the first location (Cassia Crescent). He was instructed to arrive at Cassia Crescent by 12.30pm. 8. Upon his arrival at the first location, Pang was told to call Nash whereupon she would notify him of the recipient (subsequently ascertained to be the accused, Lim Jiang Hao) he was to deliver the relevant exhibit(s) to. He would collect S$200 from the recipient of the delivery at Cassia Crescent and S$300 from Nash thereafter. Pang agreed to the arrangement. B. FACTS PERTAINING TO THE 1st CHARGE- CONSPIRACY TO IMPORT A CLASS “A” CONTROLLED DRUG- CANNABIS (DAC 933310 OF 2015) 9. On 9 September 2015, at about 2pm in the afternoon, Nash contacted the accused to inform him to go down to look for a “fat guy” (ascertained to be Pang Neng Sieng) at the void deck of his residence. After receiving the phone call from Nash, the accused went downstairs to look for Pang. He was unable to find Pang. 10. On 9 September 2015, at about 2.35 pm, the accused was arrested at the void deck of Blk 28 Cassia Crescent, Singapore. The accused admitted to ordering 5 blocks of “weed” (street name for cannabis) from the said Nash for S$1,000. He admitted to having purchased “weed” from her about 5 to 6 times before. He had intended to sell most of the “weed” for a profit of S$750, and keep the remainder for his own consumption. The accused also admitted to knowing that the said Nash was, at the material time, in Malaysia. 11. On 14 September 2015, PNS-A4A1A1 was submitted to the Health Sciences Authority (“HSA”) for analysis. 12. On 20 October 2015, Lim Kheng Aik an analyst with the Illicit Drugs Laboratory (“IDL”) of HSA, after having conducted the analysis in relation to the said exhibit issued a certificate under section 16 of the Misuse of Drugs Act (Cap 185, 2008 Rev Ed) (“the MDA”), bearing Lab No ID-1532-01697-007, certifying that the exhibit marked “PNS-A4A1A1” was found to be 5 blocks containing not less than 89.07 grams of vegetable matter which was analysed and found to be cannabis. 13. Cannabis is a Class ‘A’ Controlled Drug listed in the First Schedule to the MDA. 14. At all material times, the accused was not authorised under the MDA or the Regulations made thereunder to import into Singapore a controlled drug, or to be concerned in the import thereof. 15. By virtue of the foregoing, the accused has abetted the importation of cannabis, a Class “A” controlled drug, into Singapore, an offence under s 7 of the MDA, by engaging in a conspiracy with the said Nastasia Tay Na and Pang Neng Sieng for the said importation, and pursuant to that conspiracy and in order to that importation, the said Pang Neng Sieng did import cannabis into Singapore. The accused has thereby committed an offence under s 7 and read with s 12 which is punishable under s 33(1) of the MDA. C. CONCLUSION 16. The accused admits to the above offence and is charged accordingly. Antecedents

On 24 April 2007, the Accused was placed on 12 months’ probation with time restriction from 9.00 p.m. to 6.00 a.m. as well as to perform 60 hours of community service for an offence of theft under Section 379 Penal Code.

Prosecution’s Address on Sentence

In the Prosecution’s oral address on sentence, DPP Lim Shin Hui submitted that the Prosecution was seeking a sentence of at least 7 years’ imprisonment and 5 strokes of the cane. A table of sentencing precedents for importation and trafficking of cannabis was tendered for my consideration.

S/N	Case No.	Name of Accused	Proceeded Charges	Antecedents	Brief Facts	Sentence
1.	[2008] SGDC 254	Public Prosecutor v Ganesan A/L Chinniah (Male /44 yrs)	1 count of s5(1)(a) r/w s5(2), Cap 185	Untraced	Accused pleaded guilty to one charge of possession for the purpose of trafficking, with 1 charge of trafficking taken into consideration. The offence was pre-planned and the offender had committed the offence for profit. Weight of cannabis mixture for the proceeded charge: 90.96 g	7 years’ imprisonment and 6 strokes Appeal dismissed
2.	[2012] SGDC 129	Public Prosecutor v Mohamed Mazalan Bin Manap (Male)	1 count of s5(1)(a) r/w s 5(2), Cap 185 1 count of s8(a), Cap 185	Traced – unrelated	Accused pleaded guilty to 1 charge of possession for the purpose of trafficking and 1 charge of possession simpliciter with 2 charges of possession for the purpose of trafficking taken into consideration. Weight of cannabis mixture for trafficking charge: 124.7 g	8 years’ imprisonmentand 6 strokes of the cane (for the trafficking charge) Appeal dismissed
3.	MA 283/97	Liew Soon Chuan v PP	1 count of s5(1)(a), Cap 185 1 count of s 8(a), Cap 185	Untraced – probation only	Accused pleaded guilty to one count of trafficking in 140.2 grams of cannabis and one count of possession of 18.34 g of cannabis mixture	8 years’ imprisonmentand 6 strokes (for the trafficking charge)
4.	DAC 933313/2015	PP v Pang Neng Sieng	1 count of s 7 r/w s 12, Cap 185 1 count of s7, Cap 185	Untraced	Accused pleaded guilty to one charge of abetment of importation of 89.07 grams of cannabis and one charge of importation of 155 tablets of nimetazepam. Five other charges of abetment of importation were taken into consideration. NB: Pang is the co-accused in the instant case	7 years’ imprisonmentand 5 strokes (for the abetment of importation charge)

The Prosecution next referred to PP v Ramlee and Ors [1998] 3 SLR 539 on the issue of parity in sentencing. It was submitted that accomplices in the same affairs should receive the same sentence unless there are relevant differences in their responsibilities for the offence or their personal circumstances. In this case, the co-accused, Pang, had been...