Public Prosecutor v Ng Bee Ling Lana

• Jurisdiction: Singapore
• Judge: Yong Pung How CJ
• Judgment Date: 02 March 1992
• Neutral Citation: [1992] SGHC 47
• Docket Number: Magistrate's Appeal No 379 of 1991
• Date: 02 March 1992
• Year: 1992
• Published date: 19 September 2003
• Plaintiff Counsel: Jennifer Marie (Deputy Public Prosecutor)
• Citation: [1992] SGHC 47
• Defendant Counsel: Respondent in person
• Court: High Court (Singapore)
• Subject Matter: Offence committed to support an addiction,Criminal Procedure and Sentencing,Inadequacy of sentence,Theft,ss 328 & 379 Penal Code (Cap 224),Administering a stupefying drug to facilitate the commission of an offence,Appeals,Principles to be applied,Sentencing,Criminal force and assault,Repeat offender,Offences,Criminal Law

This is an appeal by the public prosecutor against the sentences imposed by a district judge on the respondent who was convicted of administering a stupefying drug to facilitate the commission of an offence under s 328 of the Penal Code (Cap 224), and of an offence of theft of $460 under s 379, when the respondent was sentenced to ten months` imprisonment and three months` imprisonment respectively, the sentences to run concurrently.

Both in the district court and in this court the respondent appeared in person. The facts as found by the district judge were these: On 16 October 1991 at about 8.10am, a complainant called the police and informed them that a female Chinese had stolen his money after she had spiked his drink with a drug at a brothel near Lorong 12 Geylang. On the following day, 17 October 1991 at about 10pm, the complainant spotted the respondent at the junction of Lorong 12 Geylang and Guillemard Road. He called the police and the respondent was placed under arrest.

Investigations revealed that on 15 October 1991 at about 8.30pm, the respondent found that she did not have enough money to buy more Upjohn tablets to sustain her drug-taking habit. She decided to steal from anyone whom she could befriend that night. She proceeded to a nearby toilet where she broke some of her remaining Upjohn tablets into powder and kept it in a small plastic bottle. Her intention was to spike the drinks of the person whom she would befriend and thereafter steal whatever valuables that person had.

The same evening, at about 9.10pm, the respondent spotted the complainant walking along Lorong 12 Geylang. She approached him and offered him free sex. The complainant accepted her offer and they walked to a coffee shop nearby where the respondent bought a packet of coffee. Then the respondent led the complainant to a brothel nearby where they checked into a room. There, while the complainant was busy removing his clothes, the respondent poured the powdered Upjohn tablets from the small plastic bottle into the packet of coffee. She offered the coffee, spiked with the powdered Upjohn tablets, to the complainant who drank the coffee and moments later felt dizzy and then fell asleep. When the complainant was fast asleep, the respondent searched through his belongings and took $460 from his wallet. She then left the room.

When arrested, the respondent had finished spending the $460 on more Upjohn tablets and no other personal expenses. No part of the stolen money was recovered.

The respondent pleaded guilty to the following charges:

DAC13966/91: That you on or about 15 October 1991, at about 9.30pm at a brothel near to Lorong 12 Geylang, Singapore did administer stupefying drugs to one Ong Eng Liong, to wit, by putting sleeping pills to wit, Upjohn tablets into a cup of coffee which was consumed by the said Ong Eng Liong, to facilitate the commission of an offence of theft, and you have thereby committed an offence punishable under s 328 of the Penal Code (Cap 224).

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