Public Prosecutor v Lim Choon Beng

• Jurisdiction: Singapore
• Judge: Foo Chee Hock JC
• Judgment Date: 22 September 2016
• Neutral Citation: [2016] SGHC 169
• Court: High Court (Singapore)
• Docket Number: Criminal Case No 19 of 2014
• Year: 2016
• Published date: 28 September 2016
• Hearing Date: 06 May 2016,10 May 2016,03 May 2016,04 May 2016
• Plaintiff Counsel: Lin Yinbing, Zhuo Wenzhao and Christine Liu (Attorney-General's Chambers)
• Defendant Counsel: Anand Nalachandran (TSMP Law Corporation) and Cai Chengying (Allen & Gledhill LLP)
• Subject Matter: Criminal Procedure and Sentencing
• Citation: [2016] SGHC 169

Foo Chee Hock JC: Introduction

In the wee hours of the morning on 9 February 2013, the accused, Lim Choon Beng, raped and sexually assaulted the victim successively at three locations (first to third locations) along public roads. There were a total of eight charges before the court (marked as “C1” – “C8”). Of these, the accused pleaded guilty to and was convicted on C2, C3, C6 and C7. He admitted to the offences in, and consented to having, C1, C4, C5 and C8 taken into consideration for the purpose of sentencing.

The four charges proceeded with comprised: one count of aggravated outrage of modesty (at the first location) under s 354A(1) of the Penal Code (Cap 224, 2008 Rev Ed) (“PC”) (C2); two counts of rape (at the second and third locations) under s 375(1)(a) and punishable under s 375(2) of the PC (C3 and C6 respectively); and one count of penile-oral penetration without the victim’s consent (at the third location) under s 376(1)(a) and punishable under s 376(3) of the PC (C7).

For convenience of reference, the eight detailed charges were as follows:

That you, LIM CHOON BENG,

[At the first location]

[C1] on 9 February 2013, sometime around 3.15 a.m., along Martin Road, in front of the ‘Watermark' condominium located at No. 1 Rodyk Street, did commit rape of one [xxx] (Date of Birth: [xxx]), to wit, you penetrated the vagina of the said [xxx] with your penis without her consent, and you have thereby committed an offence under Section 375(1)(a) and punishable under Section 375(2) of the Penal Code, Chapter 224 (2008 Rev. Ed.).

[At the first location]

[C2] on 9 February 2013, sometime around 3.15 a.m., along Martin Road, in front of the ‘Watermark’ condominium located at No. 1 Rodyk Street, did use criminal force to one [xxx] (Date of Birth: [xxx]), intending to outrage her modesty, to wit, by grabbing and kissing her left breast, and in order to facilitate the commission of this offence, you voluntarily caused wrongful restraint to the said [xxx] by sitting on her body, and you have thereby committed an offence punishable under Section 354A(1) of the Penal Code, Chapter 224 (2008 Rev. Ed.).

[At the second location]

[C3] on 9 February 2013, sometime around 3.25 a.m., along Martin Road, in front of No. 100 Robertson Quay, did commit rape of one [xxx] (Date of Birth: [xxx]), to wit, you penetrated the vagina of the said [xxx] with your penis without her consent, and you have thereby committed an offence under Section 375(1)(a) and punishable under Section 375(2) of the Penal Code, Chapter 224 (2008 Rev. Ed.).

[At the second location]

[C4] on 9 February 2013, sometime around 3.25 a.m., along Martin Road, in front of No. 100 Robertson Quay, did sexually penetrate the vagina of one [xxx] (Date of Birth: [xxx]) with your finger without her consent, and you have thereby committed an offence under Section 376(2)(a) and punishable under Section 376(3) of the Penal Code, Chapter 224 (2008 Rev. Ed.).

[At the second location]

[C5] on 9 February 2013, sometime around 3.25 a.m., along Martin Road, in front of No. 100 Robertson Quay, did penetrate the mouth of one [xxx] (Date of Birth: [xxx]) with your penis without her consent, and you have thereby committed an offence under Section 376(1)(a) and punishable under Section 376(3) of the Penal Code, Chapter 224 (2008 Rev. Ed.).

[At the third location]

[C6] on 9 February 2013, sometime around 3.35 a.m., along River Valley Close, near lamp post no. 16, did commit rape of one [xxx] (Date of Birth: [xxx]), to wit, you penetrated the vagina of the said [xxx] with your penis without her consent, and you have thereby committed an offence under Section 375(1)(a) and punishable under Section 375(2) of the Penal Code, Chapter 224 (2008 Rev. Ed.).

[At the third location]

[C7] on 9 February 2013, sometime around 3.35 a.m., along River Valley Close, near lamp post no. 16, did penetrate the mouth of one [xxx] (Date of Birth: [xxx]) with your penis without her consent, and you have thereby committed an offence under Section 376(1)(a) and punishable under Section 376(3) of the Penal Code, Chapter 224 (2008 Rev. Ed.). [C8] on 13 February 2013, at or about 3.10 p.m., at Blk 664 Jurong West Street 64 #15-260, Singapore, did have in your possession one ‘Acer Aspire’ laptop containing thirteen (13) films which are obscene, and you have thereby committed an offence punishable under Section 30(1) of the Films Act, Chapter 107 (1998 Rev. Ed). Facts

The victim is a Chinese national. At the time of the offence, she was approaching 25 years of age, and she had been working in Singapore for about five months¹ as a performing artiste. Her place of residence was a rented unit in an apartment block along River Valley Close.

At about 3.00am on 9 February 2013, the victim was walking home from Havelock Road by herself. To get home, she would have to cross a bridge at Saiboo Street, walk along Martin Road and turn onto River Valley Close.² Around this time, the accused was also near Saiboo Street. He had been drinking at a bar at the (now-defunct) Gallery Hotel, 76 Robertson Quay.³

Facts pertaining to C2

When the victim was walking along Martin Road (having crossed the bridge at Saiboo Street), she noticed the accused crossing the road. The accused had been part of a group walking along the opposite side of Martin Road. The victim, perceiving that the accused was approaching her, slowed her pace so that he could walk ahead of her.⁴ It was after this that the accused engaged the victim.

The facts relating to C2 (the aggravated outrage of modesty charge) as set out in the Statement of Facts read: 9. After walking in front of the victim for a short distance, the accused suddenly turned around and spoke to the victim in English. The victim replied that she did not understand English. The accused then asked the victim in Mandarin if she was a Chinese National and whether she liked American men. The victim did not reply and quickened her pace. 10. As she was walking away, the victim suddenly felt the accused grab her buttocks. In response, she pushed him away and asked what he was doing. At this point, the accused grabbed her hand and shouted at the victim. The victim flung off his hand and continued walking at a faster pace. 11. The accused lifted the victim’s skirt and the victim turned around. The victim became frightened and shouted again. 12. Shortly after this, the accused grabbed her shoulders and pushed her backward. As a result, the victim fell backwards. This was at a grass patch near some plants in front of the ‘Watermark’ condominium located at No. 1 Rodyk Street at around 3.15 a.m. 13. The accused quickly sat on her lower body and pulled at the collar of her dress. The victim struggled to break free, at the same time shouting for help. As the accused continued pulling at her dress, the zipper at the back of the dress gave way. The collar of her dress fell and her bra became exposed to the accused. 14. As the victim was still struggling, the accused fiercely told her not to force him to hit her. The accused then pulled down her bra and grabbed her left breast. He kissed her left breast as he restrained her by sitting on top of her. 15. As the victim begged the accused to let her go and shouted for help, the accused covered the victim’s mouth. He then pulled up the victim’s dress, revealing her panties. The accused pulled the victim’s panties downwards whilst the victim resisted by pulling it upwards, tearing the panties. The victim told the accused that she was having her menses and begged him to let her off. The accused paid no heed and pulled off her panties.

Facts pertaining to C3

The facts relating to C3 (the first rape charge proceeded with) read: 17. The accused only got off the victim when he saw some cars passing by. The victim tried to retrieve her panties which the accused had removed, in order to put them back on. However, the accused snatched her panties and flung them even further away, towards a patch of vegetation in front of “Watermark” condominium. He then stood up, pulled the victim by her arm and asked her to follow him home. 18. The accused then pulled the victim across Rodyk Street, to the raised platform area in front of ‘Robertson 100’ condominium located at No. 100 Robertson Quay. This was at about 3.25 a.m. The accused then grabbed the victim’s neck with one hand and hit her head against the wall. Following this, the accused then pinned the victim onto the ground. As a result of this, the victim felt dizzy. 19. The victim begged the accused to let her go. However, the accused threatened her by warning her not to shout and not to do things which would force him to beat her. The victim was frightened. The accused removed his pants and tried to penetrate her vagina with his penis. The victim touched her vagina with her finger and showed her bloodied finger to the accused, telling him that she was having her menses and to let her go. However, the accused replied that “this was how he liked it”. 20. The accused penetrated the victim’s vagina with his penis. The victim shouted for help and continued to beg him to let her go. The accused thrust his penis in and out of the victim’s vagina and she felt pain. 21. After some time, the accused withdrew his penis, stood up and put on his trousers. The victim quickly sat up and removed both her high heels in order to allow her to run away with ease. Having removed her heels, she jumped from the platform over a plot of plants onto Martin Road. She was prepared to run, however the accused appeared behind her, pulled her hand and said he wanted to bring her home. 22. The victim felt afraid that the accused would bring her to a dark location. The victim then grabbed the accused’s wrist and lied to him that they could go to her home instead. The victim’s...