Public Prosecutor v Lim Ghim Peow

• Jurisdiction: Singapore
• Judge: Tan Siong Thye JC
• Judgment Date: 27 January 2014
• Neutral Citation: [2014] SGHC 19
• Court: High Court (Singapore)
• Docket Number: Criminal Case No 2 of 2014
• Published date: 17 February 2014
• Year: 2014
• Hearing Date: 13 January 2014
• Plaintiff Counsel: Jasmine Chin-Sabado and Chee Min Ping (Attorney-General's Chambers)
• Defendant Counsel: Sunil Sudheesan and Diana Ngiam (RHTLaw Taylor Wessing LLP)
• Subject Matter: Criminal Procedure and Sentencing,Sentencing
• Citation: [2014] SGHC 19

Tan Siong Thye JC:

The accused, Lim Ghim Peow, pleaded guilty to the following charge of culpable homicide not amounting to murder without any qualification:

That you, Lim Ghim Peow,

on the 25th day of May 2012, at about 8.30 a.m., at Blk 206B Compassvale Lane #14-83, Singapore, did commit culpable homicide not amounting to murder by doing an act which caused the death of one Mary Yoong Mei Ling, F/43 years old, to wit, by pouring petrol over her body and setting her on fire with a lighter, which act was done with the intention of causing death, and you have thereby committed an offence punishable under section 304(a) of the Penal Code (Chapter 224, 2008 Revised Edition).

He also unequivocally admitted to the Statement of Facts and his criminal antecedents. The summary of the Statement of Facts The accused

The accused is a 45-year-old male Singaporean and was a taxi driver. He is a divorcee staying at a rental flat at Block 33 Bendemeer Drive #01-751 (“the Rental Flat”). The deceased was his ex-lover.

The deceased

The deceased was Mary Yoong Mei Ling, a 43-year-old female Singaporean. She was also a divorcee and was in a relationship with Choo Lye Weng (“Steven”) at the time of her demise. Prior to her relationship with Steven, she was cohabitating with the accused.

At the time of the offence, the deceased was staying with her cousin Phua Duan Kai (“the victim”) and his family. The victim is a 32-year-old male staying at Block 206B Compassvale Lane #14-83 (“the Flat”).

The relationship between the accused and the deceased

The accused first met the deceased 17 years ago. At that time, they were married to their respective spouses.

Sometime in September 2008, the accused and the deceased, both divorced then, renewed their friendship. They began a romantic relationship and cohabited at the Rental Flat. They referred to each other as “husband” and “wife” even though they were not legally married.

In 2011, the accused and the deceased’s relationship began to deteriorate. The accused became increasingly possessive and would become violent and break things when he was jealous. When they quarrelled, the deceased would sometimes move out of the flat and stay with her friend, Justina Cher Siow Wei (“Justina Cher”), at Block 207C Compassvale Lane. At other times, she would stay with her grandaunt, or her aunt to avoid the accused. When they had reconciled, she would return to live with the accused.

End of the relationship

Sometime in late 2011, the accused slapped the deceased when they were quarrelling. After this incident the deceased was resolved to end her relationship with the accused. She moved out of the flat permanently.

The deceased alternated between staying with Justina Cher, her grandaunt, and her aunt. The accused pleaded with the deceased to return to him but she refused. The accused made numerous calls and sent several text messages to the deceased’s mobile phone seeking reconciliation. She did not respond. The accused also called Justina Cher and visited her flat to check on the deceased’s whereabouts. He approached common friends and the deceased’s relatives to request for their assistance in persuading her to return to him.

The accused became more desperate in his attempts at reconciliation. His messages became more threatening and he told the deceased on more than one occasion that he would not leave her alone even if he became a ghost.

Threat to burn Justina Cher’s home

On 16 February 2012, the accused sent a text message to the deceased threatening to set fire to Justina Cher’s home if the deceased refused to meet him. As a result, the deceased agreed to meet him in the presence of his brother. The accused and the deceased argued at this meeting. The deceased chided the accused for resorting to empty threats. The accused became angry and told the deceased that he was prepared to carry out his threat. He immediately drove his taxi to a petrol kiosk and purchased a four-litre tin of petrol. Thereafter, the accused returned to the meeting place where the deceased and the accused’s brother were still waiting. The accused showed the tin of petrol to the deceased to prove that the threat was real. The accused’s brother advised him not to “act crazy”. The meeting ended and the accused brought the tin of petrol home.

Sometime in March 2012 the deceased and Justina Cher saw the accused in the vicinity of the latter’s flat. He was observing the flat from the multi-storey car park. In the same month the deceased agreed to meet the accused at a karaoke lounge. Thereafter, the accused drove to a secluded location in Tuas. He wanted to commit suicide with the deceased by inhaling the carbon monoxide in the car. The accused attempted to be intimate with the deceased, but the latter resisted and alleged that the accused was trying to rape her. In an attempt to stop him, she pretended to swallow the accused’s medication in his vehicle. The deceased continued to cry until the accused agreed to send her home. The accused then sent her to her grandaunt’s place.

After this incident, the accused started abusing methamphetamine as he felt depressed and hopeless. He wanted to use the drugs to torture himself. He abused methamphetamine daily as he did not want to sleep. He hoped to seek sympathy from the deceased.

Deceased’s relationship with Steven

Sometime in March 2012, the deceased entered into a relationship with Steven. Between April and May 2012, the deceased stayed with Steven in Johor Bahru, Malaysia on several occasions. They soon decided to get married and started making preparations to register their marriage in Singapore on 6 August 2012. They were also making arrangements to purchase a flat. Throughout this time, the accused continued to call and send text messages to the deceased, but she did not respond. On 22 May 2012 the deceased made a police report against the accused for harassment.

Accused knelt before the deceased

On 23 May 2012, when the deceased was returning to the flat after an errand, she met the accused who had been lying in wait for her. The deceased tried to run away but the accused chased her and caught her. The deceased was very afraid and called the victim and another male friend to rescue her. The victim went down and saw the accused kneeling on the floor sobbing. He addressed the deceased as his “wife”. The deceased was standing with her arms across her chest scolding him. Shortly after, the police arrived at the scene. The accused was interviewed briefly before the deceased and the accused were allowed to leave.

At this point, it was clear to the accused that the deceased had no intention of reconciling with him. He resolved to kill the deceased by burning her and to commit suicide thereafter.

The day before the offence

The accused returned home after he was interviewed by the police on 23 May 2012. He proceeded to fill three empty plastic mineral water bottles with petrol from the four-litre tin of petrol he had purchased in February 2012 (see [11] above). He did so as he believed that it would be more convenient to carry out his plan of killing the deceased by burning her if the petrol was stored in these mineral bottles rather than the bulky tin. He used transparent tape to seal the caps of the plastic bottles to prevent spillage and to ensure the smell of petrol could not be detected by others. He then placed the said bottles into a plastic bag.

Later that night, the accused went to the deceased’s flat at Blk 206B Compassvale Lane. He loitered around at the void deck and slept at the playground. Sometime after 5.00 am on 24 May 2012, the accused woke up and kept watch by observing the window of the Flat. At about 9.00 a.m., the accused walked up the block and kept watch at the staircase beside the Flat. He was hoping to see the deceased to talk to her. Shortly after, he saw the deceased’s aunt returning to the Flat. As he did not manage to see the deceased, he left the place.

Lay in wait for the deceased on the day of the offence

Later that night, the accused poured petrol from the four-litre tin into three other plastic bottles. The accused kept the remaining petrol in the four-litre tin in the kitchen behind a gas cylinder. He again sealed the three bottles with transparent tape and put them in the same plastic bag that contained the three bottles he had filled up the previous day. The accused placed the said plastic bag into a black “SMRT” carrier bag and took a taxi to Toa Payoh where he loitered around for a while.

At about 9.25 p.m., the accused sent a text message to Tan Swee Fei (“Tan”), one of his fellow taxi drivers. The accused informed him that he had made arrangements to return Tan his money. The accused also requested Tan to forward funds to his three daughters if he were to meet with any mishap. The accused ended the message by saying that he was going to do something big and that he hoped it would be successful. Tan asked him what had happened but the accused did not respond. Tan thought the accused was going to commit robbery.

On 25 May 2012, sometime after 1.00 am, the accused arrived at the vicinity of the Flat. He placed the plastic bag containing the six plastic bottles on the plant rack outside the Flat. The accused then proceeded to sleep at the staircase landing between the 14th and 15th floor.

At about 3.00 a.m., the accused woke up and watched for movement outside the Flat. At about 4.00 a.m., the deceased’s aunt opened the door. It was part of her routine to go to the church to pray at that hour. When the accused heard the door opening, he noticed that the main gate was wide open. The accused peeped into the flat but could not see anyone. The accused returned to the staircase landing between the 14th and 15th floor and waited. Later, the deceased’s aunt left the Flat. The accused continued to lie in wait for the deceased.

At about 7.45 am, the accused again...