Public Prosecutor v Seah Soon Poh

• Jurisdiction: Singapore
• Judge: Wong Keen Onn
• Judgment Date: 31 January 2008
• Neutral Citation: [2008] SGDC 17
• Court: District Court (Singapore)
• Year: 2008
• Published date: 13 March 2008
• Plaintiff Counsel: Christine Liu (Assistant Public Prosecutor)
• Defendant Counsel: Choo Si Sen (Straits Law & Practice)
• Citation: [2008] SGDC 17

31 January 2008

District Judge Wong Keen Onn:

Background

The accused, Seah Soon Poh, 43 years of age, pleaded guilty to and was convicted of the following five charges under the Misuse of Drugs Act, Chapter 185 (‘MDA’):

“Amended First charge (DAC 27559/2007”, Exhibit P1A) (“first trafficking charge”)

You, Seah Soon Poh, M/43 yrs (IC No: S1663280E, D.O.B. 2.4.1964) are charged that you on the 9^th day of July 2007 at about 1.40 p.m. at deck 2A, multi storey carpark of Block 18A Tiong Bahru Road, Singapore, did traffic in a controlled drug specified in Class “A” of the First Schedule to the Misuse of Drugs Act, Cap 185, to wit, by selling two (02) packets containing 1.55 grams of crystalline substance analysed to contain 1.27 grams of ketamine, for a sum of $80/- to one Sergeant Jeffrey Lim, an officer of the Central Narcotics Bureau, without any authorization under the said Act or the Regulations made thereunder and you have thereby committed an offence under Section 5(1)(a) and punishable under Section 33 of the Misuse of Drugs Act, Cap 185”.

“Amended Third Charge (DAC 27561/2007”, Exhibit P2A) (“second trafficking charge”)

You, Seah Soon Poh, M/43 yrs (IC No: S1663280E, D.O.B. 2.4.1964) are charged that you on the 9^th day of July 2007 at about 2.05 p.m. at Block 128 Bukit Merah View #14-48, Singapore, did traffic in a controlled drug specified in Class “A” of the First Schedule to the Misuse of Drugs Act, Cap 185, to wit, by having in your possession for the purpose of trafficking, one (1) packet containing 49.09 grams of crystalline substance inside a red packet and seven (07) packets containing 4.76 grams of crystalline substance which was analysed and found to contain 42.93 grams of ketamine, without authorization under the said Act or the Regulations made thereunder and you have thereby committed an offence under Section 5(1)(a) read with Section 5(2) of the Misuse of Drugs Act, Chapter 185 and punishable under Section 33 of the Misuse of Drugs Act, Cap 185”.

“Amended Fifth Charge (DAC 27563/2007”, Exhibit P3A)(“first possession charge”)

You, Seah Soon Poh, M/43 yrs (IC No: S1663280E, D.O.B. 2.4.1964) are charged that you on the 9^th day of July 2007 at about 2.05 p.m. at Block 128 Bukit Merah View #14-48, Singapore, did have in your possession a Class “A” controlled drug listed in the First Schedule to the Misuse of Drugs Act, Chapter 185, to wit, one anti stretch mark container containing 40.59 grams of crystalline substance analysed and found to contain 33.47 grams of ketamine, without any authorization under the said Act or the Regulations made thereunder and you have thereby committed an offence under Section 8(a) and punishable under Section 33 of the Misuse of Drugs Act, Chapter 185”.

“Amended Ninth Charge (DAC 30677/2007”, Exhibit P4A)(“second possession charge”)

You, Seah Soon Poh, M/43 yrs (IC No: S1663280E, D.O.B. 2.4.1964) are charged that you on the 26^th day of July 2007 at about 4.30 p.m. at unit #14-48 of Block 128 Bukit Merah View, Singapore, did have in your possession a controlled drug specified in Class “A” of the First Schedule to the Misuse of Drugs Act, Chapter 185, to wit, two (02) packets of crystalline substance which were analysed and found to contain a total of 0.10 gram of Methamphetamine, at the aforesaid place, without authorization under the said Act or the Regulations made thereunder and you have thereby committed an offence under Section 8(a) and punishable under Section 33 of the Misuse of Drugs Act, Chapter 185”.

“Amended Fifteenth Charge (DAC 37761/2007”, Exhibit P4A) (“first consumption charge”)

You, Seah Soon Poh, M/43 yrs (IC No: S1663280E, D.O.B. 2.4.1964) are charged that you on the 26^th day of July 2007 in Singapore, did consume a Class “A” controlled drug listed in The First Schedule to the Misuse of Drugs Act, Chapter 185 as well as a Specified Drug listed in The Fourth Schedule to the Misuse of Drugs Act Chapter 185, to wit, Morphine, without authorization under the said Act or the Regulations made thereunder and you have thereby committed an offence under Section 8(b)(ii) of the Misuse of Drugs Act, Chapter 185”.

2 Upon his conviction on the above five charges, he admitted to and consented another thirteen charges under the Misuse of Drugs Act (“MDA”) to be taken into consideration for the purpose of sentencing. These comprise 2 counts of trafficking in Class C controlled drugs under s 5(1)(a) of the MDA, 4 counts of unauthorized possession of Class A controlled drugs under s 8(a) of the MDA, 2 counts of unauthorized possession of a Class C controlled drug under s 8(a) of the MDA, 3 counts of unauthorized consumption of a Class A drugs under s 8(b)(ii) of the MDA, 1 count of unauthorized consumption of a Class C drug under s 8(b)(ii) of the MDA and 1 count of possession of utensils used in the consumption of drugs under s 9 of the MDA.

3 The accused was sentenced to 5 years and 6 months imprisonment and five strokes of the cane for DAC 27559/07 (first trafficking charge), 7 years imprisonment and seven strokes of the cane for DAC 27561/07 (second trafficking charge), 20 months imprisonment for DAC 27563/07 (first possession charge), 14 months imprisonment for DAC 30677/07 (second possession charge) and 12 months imprisonment for DAC 37761/07 (consumption charge). The sentences for DAC 27561/07, DAC 27563/07 and DAC 37761/07 were ordered to run consecutively with the remaining sentences to run concurrently, giving a total of 9 years and 8 months imprisonment and 12 strokes of the cane. The accused has appealed against this sentence. I now give the reasons for the sentences imposed.

The Facts

First series of offences

4 The Statement of Facts (Exhibit ‘B’), which the accused admitted to without qualifications, revealed that on 9 July 2007, at about 1.40 p.m., at deck 2A of the multi-storey carpark of Block 18A Tiong Bahru Road, Singapore, the accused had sold without authorization two packets of crystalline substance to an undercover CNB officer, Sgt Jeffery Lim, for the price of S$80. The accused had earlier ridden his motorcycle bearing vehicle number FT3143A from his home in Bukit Merah View to the said carpark. After the successful completion of the sale transaction, the accused was arrested by SSGT Khoo Feng Yen and a party of CNB officers for trafficking in a controlled drug and the marked notes were recovered from him. The said two packets of crystalline substance were marked as exhibit “UC-1” and sent to the Health Sciences Authority (HSA) for analysis on 10 July 2007. They were found to contain 1.55 grams of crystalline substance, which was analyzed to contain 1.27 grams of ketamine, a Class A controlled drug listed in the First Schedule to the MDA.

5 After his said arrest on 9 July 2007, at about 2.05 p.m., the accused was escorted from his official residence at Block 128 #14-48 Bukit Merah View, Singapore, where a search was conducted in his presence. One big packet of crystalline substance in a red packet (marked as exhibit “B”) and seven packets of crystalline substance in a Louis Vuitton box (marked as “C”) were recovered from a table in the accused’s bedroom. The accused admitted ownership of the said exhibits marked as “B” and “C” and that they were meant for selling. The exhibits were sent to HSA for analysis on 10 July 2007. They were found to be one packet containing 49.09 grams of crystalline substance and seven packets containing 4.76 grams of crystalline substance, and analyzed to contain 42.93 grams of ketamine, a Class A Controlled Drug listed in the First Schedule to the MDA (Cap 185).

6 During the said raid on the accused’s residence at Block 128 #14-48 Bukit Merah View at about 2.05 p.m. on 9 July 2007, an “Anti Stretch Mark” container containing crystalline substance was also recovered from the top of the table inside the accused’s bedroom. The accused admitted ownership of the said container containing crystalline substance, and that it was meant for his own consumption. The said container containing crystalline substance was marked as exhibit “A” and sent to HSA for analysis on 10 July 2007. It was found that the said exhibit marked as “A” contained 10.59 grams of crystalline substance analyzed to contain 33.47 grams of ketamine, a Class A Controlled Drug listed in the First Schedule to the MDA (Cap 185).

Second series of offences

7 The accused was first charged for the first series of drug offences in Court 26 on 18 July 2007. He was released on bail of $60,000. Investigations revealed that whilst the accused was on Court bail, he was again arrested on 26 July 2007, at about 4.10 p.m., at the ground floor of the multi-storey carpark near Block 120 Bukit Merah View, Singapore, by SSgt Khoo Feng Yen and a party of CNB officers on suspicion of consumption of controlled drugs. The accused person was subsequently escorted at about 4.30 p.m., to his residence at Block 128 Bukit Merah View #14-48, where a search was conducted in his presence and two packets of crystalline substance (one in a plastic ingot) recovered from a table in the room. The accused admitted ownership of the said two packets of crystalline substance, and that these were...