Public Prosecutor v Silvendran s/o Saminathan

• Jurisdiction: Singapore
• Judge: Lorraine Ho
• Judgment Date: 30 July 2018
• Neutral Citation: [2018] SGDC 199
• Court: District Court (Singapore)
• Docket Number: DAC No. 940844-2016 & 3 Ors, Magistrate’s Appeal No. MA-9195/2018/01
• Published date: 13 December 2018
• Year: 2018
• Hearing Date: 26 June 2018,17 April 2018,21 May 2018
• Plaintiff Counsel: Daphne Lim (Attorney-General's Chambers)
• Defendant Counsel: Khadijah Yasin (Mahmood Gaznavi & Partners)
• Subject Matter: Criminal Procedure and Sentencing - Sentencing
• Citation: [2018] SGDC 199

District Judge Lorraine Ho: INTRODUCTION

The accused, a 54-year-old Singaporean male, was involved in a series of events in the evening of 8 November 2016. The victims included a 56-year-old lady and two police officers. As a result of his violent conduct and behaviour, he was faced with a total of eight charges. On the day of the trial before me on 17 April 2018, on account of the accused’s plea of guilt, the Prosecution proceeded with four of the charges with the remaining four charges to be taken into consideration (“TIC”) for the purpose of sentencing.

In total, the accused was sentenced to a global term 13 months’ imprisonment for the four proceeded charges.

Being dissatisfied, the accused is appealing against the sentence imposed. He is currently serving sentence pending appeal.

BACKGROUND FACTS The Charges

In relation to the 4 proceeded charges, a table of description of them is as follows:

Charge No.	Description
1st Charge (DAC-940844-2016)	You, are charged that you on the 8th day of November 2016, at or about 6.30pm, in the vicinity of Blk 3 Marsiling Road, Singapore, did cause grievous hurt to one Rohna Bte Mohamad Subir, by doing an act so rashly as to endanger the personal safety of others, when you forcefully swung a walking stick towards the said Rohna Bte Mohamad Subir and caused her to sustain 4th and 5th finger proximal metacarpal phalanx fracture and a 1 cm cephalohaematoma on the head, and have thereby committed an offence punishable under Section 338(a) of the Penal Code, Chapter 224.
5th Charge (DAC-926027-2017)	You, are charged that you on the 8th day of November 2016, at about 9.56 pm, in Lift D of Blk 4 Marsiling Road, Singapore, did voluntarily cause hurt to a public servant, namely one Nur Fadilah Binte Arshad, a Sergeant of the Singapore Police Force, in the discharge of her duty as such public servant, to wit, by kicking the said Sergeant Nur Fadilah Binte Arshad once on the shin, and you have thereby committed an offence punishable under Section 332 of the Penal Code, Chapter 224.
3rd Charge (MAC-906349-2017)	You, are charged that you, on the 8th day of November 2016, at or about 9.03pm, at Blk 4 Marsiling Road Level 4, Singapore, did threaten one Police Sergeant Ahmad Sholaahuddin As-Salafi with injury to his person, to wit, by pointing a wooden stick at the said Police Sergeant Ahmad Sholaahuddin As-Salafi and saying “Nak cuba aku” in Malay, or words to that effect, which means “Want to try me” in English Langauge, with intent to cause alarm to Police Sergeant Ahmad Sholaahuddin As-Salafi, and you have thereby committed an offence punishable under Section 506(1st limb) of the Penal Code, Chapter 224.
8th Charge (MAC-906354-2017)	You, are charged that you on the 8th day of November 2016, at about 10.22pm, in a Police Fast Response Car which was in the carpark of Jurong Police Division Headquarters, Singapore, did use abusive words towards a public servant, namely one Nur Fadilah Binte Arshad, a Sergeant with the Singapore Police Force, to wit by saying “besok pagi engkau tengok mak kau sakit ah. Deman. Deman terus. Kau tengok mak kau, besok tau. Kau tengok uh, mak kau. Kau tengok keluarga semua.” and “Kau babi, tak ada hati. Suami kau pun kau tak cinta, tahu tak? Kau pun main belakang dengan suami kau. Kau pun kaki buka dengan lain orang jugak. Bila kau punya suami cinta kau, kau mainkan lain belakang, ini semua gaya tunjuk”, in Malay, or words to that effect, which means “Tomorrow you will see, your mother will be sick, fever. Continuous fever. See your mother tomorrow, understand. See your mother, uh. See all your family (members).” and “You pig, you are heartless. Even your husband, you do not love. You know? You even cheated on your husband behind his back. You even open your legs to other people also. When your husband love you, you cheated behind people’s back. This is all for show.” in English respectively, to the said Nur Fadilah Binte Arshad, in relation to the execution of her duty as such public servant, and you have thereby committed an offence punishable under Section 6(3) of the Protection from Harassment Act, Chapter 256A AND FURTHER That you, before the commission of the said offence, was convicted on 15th April 2008 of one count of using indecent, threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour towards a public servant, under Section 13D(1)(A) of the Miscellaneous Offences (Public Order and Nuisance) Act, Chapter 184 (vide MAC/1108/08), which conviction was not set aside, and you are thereby liable for enhanced punishment under Section 8(d) of the Protection from Harassment Act, Chapter 256A.

As for the 4 charges which the accused admitted and consented to having them TIC for the purpose of sentencing, they included: 1 charge under Section 323 of the Penal Code [“PC”] (Cap 244) for voluntarily causing hurt to one Baharudin Bin Samudin by using and hitting him repeatedly a walking stick (2nd Charge); 1 charge under Section 4(2) of the Protection from Harassment Act [“POHA”] (Cap 256A) for using threatening behaviour by hitting himself with a chopper in full view of police officers, which act was likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress to them. Additionally, the accused was liable for enhanced punishment under s8(b) of the POHA because he was previously convicted on 15 April 2008 for one count of using indecent, threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour towards a public servant under Section 13D(1)(A) of the Miscellaneous Offences (Public Order and Nuisance) Act (Cap 184) [“MOA”] (4th Charge); and 2 charges under Section 6(3) of the POHA for using abusive words towards 2 police officers, namely Sergeants Admad Sholaahuddin As-Salafi and Ooi Seow Pin in relation to their duties as public servants. Additionally, the accused was liable for enhanced punishment under s8(b) of the POHA because he was previously convicted on 15 April 2008 of one count of using indecent, threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour towards a public servant under Section 13D(1)(A) of the MOA (6th Charge);

Statement of Facts

The accused admitted to the Statement of Facts (“SOF”) without qualification. A concise, succinct and edited version of the SOF depicting the offences reads as follows:

…

Facts Pertaining to DAC 940844/2016 (1st Charge)

2. The victim is one Rohna Bte Mohamad Subir (“Rohna”), Female/ 56 years old (DOB: 13 June 1961), Singapore Citizen. She is the involved party’s wife. 3. The involved party is Baharudin Bin Samsudin (“Baharudin”), Male / 43 years old (DOB: 26 July 1974), NRIC No. xxx, Singapore Citizen. 4. On 8 November 2016 at or about 6.31 p.m., the Police received a call stating “There is a fight between a Malay guy and a Indian guy. Someone injured”. The location of the incident was provided as Blk 3 Marsiling Road Ground Floor. 5. Investigations revealed that on 8 November 2016 at or about 6.30 p.m., Baharudin was with his wife (Rohna) and had come across Silvendran by chance at the sheltered walkway in the vicinity of Blk 3 Marsiling Ground Floor. Silvendran approached Baharudin and Rohna first. Baharudin and Silvendran then got into a verbal argument over a previous incident. 6. In the course of the verbal dispute, Baharudin took Rohna’s metal walking stick and hit Silvendran with it. Baharudin was aiming for Silvendran’s shoulder but hit him on the head instead. As a result of the assault by Baharudin, Silvendran sustained a 4 cm superficial wound over his left parietal region and multiple scratches of varying length over left arm and left shoulder (Medical Report dated 13 December 2016 prepared by A/P Jagadesan Raghuram of Changi General Hospital annexed in TAB A). 7. Thereafter, Silvendran gained control of the metal walking stick and assaulted Baharudin and Rohna with the stick. At one point, Rohna was standing behind Baharudin with one arm over his chest, trying to protect him. At that point, Silvendran was standing in front of Baharudin. He raised the metal walking stick up to aim and then forcefully swung it towards Baharudin and Rohna. The metal stick then hit onto Baharudin’s head and also Rohna’s hand. 8. Meanwhile, the commotion attracted the attention of a passer-by who was at a bus stop on the opposite side of the road. The passer-by intervened and separated both parties. Rohna was observed by the passer-by to be shaking and in pain, with her knuckles seen to be bleeding. Silvendran left before the Police and the ambulance arrived. 9. The said metal stick was seized by the Police as an exhibit. It weighs about 0.18 kg: 10. As a result of the assault by Silvendran, Rohna sustained a 1cm cephalohaematoma on her head and displaced fractures of her right proximal phalanges. The impression was right hand phalanges fractures, head injury secondary to assault. She was given 10 days of medical leave certification (Medical report prepared by Dr Lin Ying Chui Annette of Khoo Teck Puat Hospital dated 17 November 2016 annexed in TAB B). 11. As a result of the assault by Silvendran, Baharudin sustained the following injuries, a. Contusion, vertex of head b. Contusion, right malar area c. Abrasion, right forearm d. Multiple contusion, right forearm e. Multiple contusion, back f. Tenderness, left shoulder g. Contusion, left knee.

The clinical impression was multiple contusion and abrasion due to alleged assault. He was given medical leave certification for four days (Medical report prepared by Dr Galindez Alex Antionio of Khoo Teck Puat Hospital dated 24 November 2016 annexed in TAB C).

12. Silvendran did cause grievous hurt to Rohna by doing an act so rashly as to endanger the personal safety of others, when he forcefully swung the metal walking stick towards her and caused her to...