Public Prosecutor v Rosli bin Yassin

• Jurisdiction: Singapore
• Judge: Woo Bih Li J
• Judgment Date: 25 June 2012
• Neutral Citation: [2012] SGHC 129
• Court: High Court (Singapore)
• Hearing Date: 11 May 2012,18 November 2011,12 September 2011
• Docket Number: Criminal Case No 29 of 2010
• Plaintiff Counsel: Lau Wing Yum, Luke Tan and Toh Puay San
• Defendant Counsel: Wong Siew Hong (Infinitus Law Corporation) and Daniel Koh (Eldan Law LLP)
• Subject Matter: Criminal Procedure and Sentencing,Sentencing,Preventive Detention
• Published date: 09 April 2013

Woo Bih Li J: Introduction

The accused person, Rosli Bin Yassin (“Rosli”), who is 52 years old, faced 19 charges. A copy of the charge sheet is annexed hereto as “Annex A”. The Prosecution proceeded with eight charges to which Rosli pleaded guilty. I accepted his plea of guilt and convicted him accordingly. He agreed to the other charges being taken into account for the purpose of sentencing. Unfortunately for Rosli, he had a history of convictions which brought him within s 12(2)(b) of the Criminal Procedure Code (Cap 68, 1985 Rev Ed) (“CPC”). [LawNet Admin Note: Annex A is viewable only to LawNet subscribers via the PDF in the Case View Tools.]

The Defence argued against the imposition of preventive detention and alternatively, for less than ten years’ preventive detention. The Prosecution pressed for the maximum of 20 years’ preventive detention. On 11 May 2012, I sentenced Rosli to 12 years’ preventive detention commencing from the date of my order. Rosli and the Public Prosecutor have each filed an appeal against my decision on sentence.

The eight charges

I set out below in chronological order, the eight charges which Rosli pleaded guilty to:

10th charge	-	This was a charge of cheating with common intention under s 420 read with s 34 of the Penal Code (Cap 224, 1985 Rev Ed) (“Penal Code”). The victim was Sunarti. The maximum imprisonment term was ten years.
11th charge	-	This charge was similar to the 10th charge. The victim was Sunarti.
16th charge	-	This was a charge of criminal breach of trust under s 406 of the Penal Code. The victim was Zubaidah Binte Ali (“Zubaidah”). The maximum imprisonment term was seven years.
5th charge	-	This was a charge of culpable homicide not amounting to murder under s 304(a) of the Penal Code. The victim was Choo Xue Ying (“Ying”). The maximum imprisonment term was for life.
3rd charge	-	This was a charge of theft under s 379 of the Penal Code. The theft was of items belonging to Ying. The maximum imprisonment term was three years.
6th charge	-	This was a charge of abetment of forgery for the purpose of cheating under s 468 read with s 109 of the Penal Code. The intended victim was Overseas-Chinese Banking Corporation Limited (“OCBC”). The maximum imprisonment term was ten years.
1st charge	-	This was a charge of cheating with common intention under s 420 read with s 34 of the Penal Code. The victim was Adros Bin Syed Omar (“Adros”). The maximum imprisonment term was ten years.
2nd charge	-	This charge was similar to the 1st charge. The victim was Adros.

I will now set out the facts relating to the eight charges. The facts are derived from the Statement of Facts which Rosli agreed to.

Facts relating to the 10th and 11th charges

The victim was Sunarti. She is 40 years old and holds an Indonesian passport. Rosli used an accomplice by the name of Jelly, an Indonesian who overstayed. She is 34 years old. Rosli and Jelly were staying at various places in Singapore at the material time.

On 15 August 2008, Jelly approached Sunarti who was having a meal in a coffee shop at Lorong 20 Geylang. Rosli was standing near Jelly. Jelly told Sunarti that Rosli had $300,000 in a bank but needed a bank book to withdraw the money. She asked Sunarti to lend her $150 to buy a bank book in order to withdraw the money and promised to give Sunarti $1,000 after the money was withdrawn.

Sunarti agreed. Thereafter, both of them walked to the POSB bank located at Lorong 25 Geylang with Rosli following behind. Upon their arrival at the bank, Sunarti saw Rosli handing over a piece of paper which looked like a bank paper to Jelly. Jelly then placed her passport on a counter and also took Sunarti’s passport and asked her for the $150. She handed the money to Jelly. Following that, Jelly wrote both her name and Sunarti’s name on the piece of bank paper. Thereafter, Sunarti was told to wait outside the bank and she did so. When Rosli and Jelly came out of the bank, they told Sunarti that the bank book would only be ready for collection the next day.

The trio then walked along Geylang Road and subsequently checked into Min Hwa Hotel. Jelly registered for the room using her passport and the trio stayed there.

The following morning (16 August 2008), pursuant to the same promise that Sunarti would be given $1,000 upon the successful withdrawal of money from the bank and in furtherance of the common intention of both Jelly and Rosli, Jelly asked Sunarti for another $100 to pay the hotel charges, which the latter gave. The trio then went to Lorong 25 Geylang to have their meal. Thereafter, they proceeded to the same POSB bank again.

While there, Sunarti was again told to wait outside the bank by Jelly. Rosli and Jelly then went into the bank. A short while later, both of them came out of the bank and told Sunarti that the money still could not be withdrawn. They subsequently returned to the hotel and stayed there for the next few days.

On 26 August 2008, Rosli told Sunarti to proceed to the POSB bank first and that he and Jelly would meet up with her there later. Rosli also said that they would be getting the money from the bank on that day. Before leaving the hotel, Sunarti lent Rosli her Nokia N80 handphone.

Sunarti went to the bank alone and waited for Rosli and Jelly. However, after an hour, there was still no sign of them. Sensing that something was wrong, she immediately called her own mobile number, using a public phone. Rosli answered and said that they were at Lorong 18 Geylang.

Sunarti then ran to Lorong 18 Geylang where she met Rosli and Jelly. The trio then took a taxi to the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (“ICA”) Building.

On their arrival at the ICA Building, both Jelly and Sunarti were told by Rosli to wait at the second level waiting area. After a few hours, Rosli still did not return. They tried to look for him but to no avail.

Jelly and Sunarti subsequently left the ICA Building. Along the way, Sunarti approached a man at a bus stop and sought his help. He then called the police.

Facts relating to the 16th charge

The victim was Zubaidah. She is 50 years old. At the material time, she was working as a cleaner at an MRT station.

On 12 October 2008 at about 9am, Zubaidah was carrying out her cleaning duty at an MRT station. Rosli approached her, introduced himself as “Ali” and claimed that he was working as a cleaner at the Geylang area. He told Zubaidah that his company was looking for cleaners and that he could get jobs at his company for her friends. In response, she told Rosli that she might introduce her friend to him. Thereafter, they exchanged contact numbers.

On the following morning (13 October 2008) at about 9am, Rosli called Zubaidah and told her to meet him at the coffeeshop located at the junction of Aljunied Road and Sims Avenue to discuss the job offer.

On the same day, at about 10am, both Zubaidah and her friend, one Mariam Bte Ahmad, arrived at the said coffeeshop. They met Rosli and started to discuss the job offer. At one juncture, Rosli told Zubaidah that he needed her handphone to contact his boss and further told her that he needed to see his boss at Tuas.

Zubaidah handed her silver Nokia handphone to Rosli. Both Zubaidah and her friend were then asked to wait for Rosli at the coffeeshop. However, after a few hours, he did not return. Zubaidah then tried calling the contact number which was given to her by Rosli but to no avail. Zubaidah lodged a police report on 16 October 2008.

Facts relating to the 5th charge

The victim was Ying. She is 47 years old. Prior to her demise, she was single and worked as a property agent.

Investigations revealed that Rosli became acquainted with Ying sometime in July 2008. Rosli and Ying had business dealings with each other shortly after that.

On 14 October 2008, Rosli introduced Ying to Jelly. Thereafter, Jelly and Rosli were driven by Ying in her car on several occasions. Rosli told Jelly that he and Ying were embarking on some business venture.

On 16 October 2008, sometime in the morning, Jelly went to the Geylang East Community Library with Rosli and Rosli told her that he was expecting to meet Ying there. On the same day, at about 2pm, Rosli told Jelly that he was leaving the library with Ying for some business. He told Jelly to wait for him at the library.

Rosli and Ying then travelled in Ying’s car to Lorong Sesuai. Only Rosli and Ying were in the car when Ying stopped the car at Lorong Sesuai to discuss the money which Rosli alleged was owed to him by Ying.

An argument broke out between them while they were in the car. During the argument, Rosli punched Ying’s head and face many times. Rosli also kicked Ying’s left thigh area.

Rosli then suggested that they discuss the matter outside the car. Both Rosli and Ying alighted from the vehicle to discuss the matter further. At that time, Ying said that she would call the police. On hearing this, Rosli snatched Ying’s mobile phone away from her. He then struck Ying on her head several times and also punched and kicked her. She fell down.

Rosli carried Ying’s body to the base of a slope at Lorong Sesuai. She subsequently died from the head injuries caused by Rosli.

Rosli then drove away in Ying’s car but collided the car into a tree while doing so. He then drove the car from Lorong Sesuai to Jalan Kubor and removed Ying’s laptop and her handbag and its contents from the car which he abandoned. The contents were as stated in the 3rd charge.

On the same day, at or about 4pm, while Jelly was still at the library, she received a call from Rosli. Rosli told Jelly to meet him at a coffee shop located at Sungei Road. When she arrived at Sungei Road, Rosli was seen with...