Public Prosecutor v Sylvain Christian Emile Pilhion

• Jurisdiction: Singapore
• Judge: Eddy Tham Tong Kong
• Judgment Date: 25 June 2012
• Neutral Citation: [2012] SGDC 232
• Court: District Court (Singapore)
• Docket Number: MAC 3536/2011 and others
• Year: 2012
• Published date: 20 May 2013
• Hearing Date: 01 November 2011,01 December 2011,31 October 2011,02 December 2011,26 January 2012,04 November 2011,07 September 2011,08 September 2011,02 November 2011
• Plaintiff Counsel: Deputy Public Prosecutor Lee Zhu Zhao
• Defendant Counsel: Defence Counsel P E Ashokan and Ms Susie Ann Smith (M/s KhattarWong LLP)
• Citation: [2012] SGDC 232

District Judge Eddy Tham:

This is an appeal against conviction by the Accused.

The Accused had claimed trial before me to one charge of using criminal force under section 352 of the Penal Code (MAC 3536/2011), one charge of voluntarily causing hurt under section 323 of the Penal Code (MAC 537/2011) and one charge of a rash act endangering human life under section 336(a) of the Penal Code (MAC 3538/2011).

At the end of the trial, I had amended 2 charges – for the charge of using criminal force, I had amended the description of the offending act slightly: from “grabbing her and tossing her onto the bed” to “grabbing her shoulders and pressing her down onto the bed” and for the charge of rash act, I amended the charge to one of using criminal force under section 352 of the Penal Code with the offending act described as “pressing a pillow over the right side of her face onto the bed to stop her from yelling”.

When both parties confirmed that there was no need to recall any witnesses or any additional witnesses in response to the amended charges, I convicted the accused on all 3 charges ie on both the amended charges as well as on the original voluntarily causing hurt charge.

The Accused being dissatisfied with the order of conviction has appealed against it.

I sentenced the Accused to fines of $1,000, $1,500 and $1,500 for the three charges respectively. The Accused has paid the fines and is not appealing against the sentences imposed.

The Background and Undisputed Facts

The accused is a French national. All 3 charges involve the complainant, one Jocelyn Quynh Anh Pohl (“Jocelyn”). The Accused and Jocelyn after shortly coming to know each other on or about February 2010, became romantically involved in an intimate relationship. At the material time, the accused was still married with a young child but was separated from his wife who was residing in China. They lived together periodically during the relationship between March 2010 until the date of the incident of 29 March 2011. Similarly, Jocelyn was also married at the material time and separated. ‘Pohl’ is the surname of her husband.

The relationship was not smooth going and went through several bumps. They had lived together periodically and had made trips to France and travelled through Europe as well as holidayed in Vietnam. In between there were momentary quarrels leading to separation. They would then get back together. The relationship can be described as intense and yet unstable.

In early 2011, there were plans for the accused to come from France to visit and stay with Jocelyn in Singapore at her rented apartment in a condominium located at 14D, Jalan Masjid #04-03. Although Jocelyn was rather ambivalent as to whether she really welcomed the Accused on this trip, it was clear from the email and other internet exchanges that she was looking forward to the accused coming and making the relationship work.

During this period, the Accused and Jocelyn continued to enjoy sexual intimacy at least on one occasion. However, there were simmering problems mainly involving the Accused’s desire to visit his daughter in China and whether the Accused was sincere about ending his relationship with his wife. Jocelyn indicated that she wanted to end the relationship with the accused.

This was not the first time this issue became a thorn in the relationship. Whilst holidaying in Vietnam, Jocelyn had left in a huff over this matter. However, things came to a boil on the evening of 28 March 2011 which events then spilled over onto 29 March 2011.

The events on 28 March 2011

The main event started on 28 March 2011. The Accused and Jocelyn had given different accounts. Jocelyn’s version was that on Accused’s arrival on 22 March 2011, she had already told him of her intention to part ways with him and that the Accused had begged her to allow him to stay at her apartment until he had obtained his visa to China to visit his wife and daughter. On 28 March 2011, she had again told him to leave after which the Accused then told her he would do so after she spent a day with him and she agreed. The Accused’s version was that whilst planning for a trip to Vietnam, he mentioned that he was going to see his daughter in China on 23 April 2011 after his wife returned to China from a business trip, Jocelyn reacted badly and aggressively towards him. It is not disputed thereafter they had gone together for lunch on that day.

Jocelyn’s version of the evening of 28 March 2011 The first charge of using criminal force by grabbing and tossing Jocelyn onto the bed.

After lunch, they had parted ways to do their own activities. I will now set out the version given by Jocelyn. When Jocelyn returned to her apartment in the evening, she found the accused in the toilet with self-inflicted cuts on his arm, neck and chest. She was shocked as she did not know whether he was trying to commit suicide or kill her. She then told him that she was going to call his parents and that he needed help. He begged her not to do that and pleaded with her to go out for a drink with him and he would leave after that.

After the drink, they went for a walk on the beach where the Accused tried to hug and kiss her but she refused his advances. He kept pleading with her to let him stay but she insisted that he should leave as agreed earlier. They returned to the apartment just after midnight.

On reaching her apartment, Jocelyn went to her bathroom on the second floor to take a shower when the Accused suddenly barged into it angrily and saying something to the effect of “you never shut me out”.

Jocelyn told him she was upset that he had intruded into her privacy and told him to get his things and leave. The accused then left the bathroom but not for long. When Jocelyn proceeded to take a shower, the Accused pushed open the bathroom door again, this time completely naked and jumped into the shower with her. He again ranted at her for shutting the bathroom door on him.

Jocelyn became terrified at this juncture and jumped out of the shower, towelled herself and put on a shirt before running towards the stairs leading to the ground floor. What followed thereafter was a long series of forceful actions by the Accused on her. The Accused had chased after her and caught her at the top of the staircase, grabbed her, lifted her up and then threw her onto her bed. Jocelyn screamed at the Accused to get out. She then tried to run off a second time and again the Accused managed to grab her and threw her onto the bed. She made a third attempt to run for the staircase and which attempt was again foiled by the Accused grabbing her and tossing her onto the bed.

She then told the Accused she needed to go to the toilet and this time the Accused allowed her to go, stating that it was okay as there was nowhere for her to run to from there.

Jocelyn then went to the toilet and put on a pair of jeans. She could not find her handphone. After a while when she noted it was quiet, she opened the toilet door and found the Accused lying naked on her bed. He came towards her and tried to remove her jeans from her and tossed her onto her bed for a fourth time.

These series of tossing her onto the bed against her will formed the subject matter of the first charge although it is not clear which of the four tossing incidents the prosecution was referring to in the charge. The second charge of voluntarily causing her by biting Jocelyn’s hand

After throwing Jocelyn for a fourth time onto the bed, the Accused got on top of Jocelyn and sat across her hips, straddling her. He pinned her down using both hands to press her arms onto the bed. When the Accused shifted his position, he took his arm to pin her down by pressing her chest, Jocelyn used her left hand which was freed to push against the Accused. The Accused then grabbed her left hand and bit it once, leaving teeth marks and puncturing her skin in the process. Bruising subsequently developed on the fourth finger.

The third charge of causing rash act by smothering Jocelyn’s face with a pillow

After the bite, Jocelyn screamed even louder and continued to struggle. The accused then picked up a pillow and pressed it against her face. He was pressing it down hard enough to cause a bruise near her right eye. Jocelyn felt a sudden panic as she could not breathe and thought she was going to die. She struggled even more and managed to cause both of them to fall off the bed. She then got up and ran down the stairs with the accused chasing after her.

Events after the third charge

Jocelyn managed to run down the stairs and reached the front door of her apartment when the Accused grabbed her from behind and threw her back into the unit before slamming the door and locking it. He told her she was not going anywhere. He then walked towards her telling her to go upstairs with him.

Jocelyn backed away from him and on reaching the window, she opened it and started shouting. The Accused grabbed her and pulled her away before shutting the windows. She then let the dog out hoping that it would distract the Accused but it instead started to play with him. Jocelyn then tried to go for the main door again but was unsuccessful as the Accused grabbed her and pulled her back. The Accused then tried to get her to go upstairs with her. He picked her up and carried her up the stairs but whilst on the stairs, Jocelyn managed to grab the handrail and pushed against the wall with her legs, causing the Accused to lose his balance and drop her.

Jocelyn got up and ran out of the apartment through the main door and down the stairs to the round level of the apartment block. As she did not see the security guard of the condominium, she proceeded to run out of the condominium where she met PW3 Ang Sik Ling and her husband, who happened to be walking towards some eateries for supper. Jocelyn then used their phone to make a call to the police. The First...