Public Prosecutor v Wong Guoliang

• Jurisdiction: Singapore
• Judge: Kaur Jasvender
• Judgment Date: 19 July 2016
• Neutral Citation: [2016] SGDC 184
• Court: District Court (Singapore)
• Docket Number: DAC 921074 of 2015 & Ors
• Published date: 21 July 2016
• Year: 2016
• Hearing Date: 23 June 2016,12 May 2016,05 April 2016
• Plaintiff Counsel: Kong Kuek Foo (5 April 2016 and 12 May 2016) and Andre Chong (23 June 2016) (Deputy Public Prosecutors)
• Defendant Counsel: Lam Kuet Keng Steven John (Templars Law LLC)
• Citation: [2016] SGDC 184

District Judge Kaur Jasvender :

The accused faced ten charges – one count of causing grievous hurt with a parang under section 326 of the Penal Code (Cap 224), three charges of driving whilst disqualified under section 43(4) of the Road Traffic Act p/u section 67A(1)(a) Road Traffic Act (Cap 276), three charges of driving without insurance coverage under section 3(1) and p/u section 3(2) of the Motor Vehicles (Third-Party Risks and Compensation) Act (Cap 189) and three charges of taking a vehicle without consent under section 96(1) of the Road Traffic Act (Cap 276).

The accused pleaded guilty to the section 326 charge, one count of driving whilst disqualified, one count of driving without insurance coverage and one count of taking a vehicle without consent. The remaining six charges were taken into consideration for the purpose of sentence with the consent of the accused.

He was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment and nine strokes on the section 326 charge, one year’s imprisonment and disqualified from driving on all classes for 20 years with effect from the date of release on the driving whilst disqualified charge, one month’s imprisonment and disqualified from driving on all classes for eight years on the insurance charge and a fine of $1,000, in default one week’s imprisonment on the taking of the vehicle without consent charge. The five-year and one-year imprisonment terms were ordered to run consecutively. The aggregate sentence was therefore six years’ imprisonment, nine strokes, fine of $1,000, in default one week’s imprisonment and disqualification from driving and holding a driving licence for a period of 20 years with effect from the date of release from imprisonment.

Summary of facts Section 326 charge

The victim is 36 years old. He is a renovation contractor.

The accused was in a relationship with the victim’s ex-girlfriend. He learnt from her that the victim was married when he was seeing her. The accused became angry and planned to teach the victim a lesson.

On 28 May 2015, the accused called the victim purportedly to engage his services for renovation works. He did not use his own handphone to call the victim. He arranged to meet the victim the next day, at 11am at 29 Hillview Terrace, Hillview Warehouse, #07-01.

On 29 May 2015 at about 11am, the victim arrived at the unit. As the premises were closed, he waited outside. Shortly thereafter, the accused approached the victim from the seventh floor staircase landing, wearing a surgical mask on his face and holding a parang about 35cm in length behind his buttocks with his left hand. He suddenly raised his left hand with the parang and swung it towards the victim, slashing the victim on the left abdomen area. This caused the victim’s intestines to spill out of the wound. He then slashed the victim’s right arm, right cheek, left upper back area, and right forehead area. The victim managed to escape and ran to a nearby carpark where he lied down and waited for help.

At 11.12am, the police received a call informing that someone was injured. The victim was subsequently conveyed to the National University Hospital (‘NUH’) by ambulance.

The victim was hospitalised at NUH for 10 days. He was discharged on 8 June 2015. He was given hospitalisation leave from 29 May 2015 to 13 July 2015. The victim’s injuries were described in the medical report as follows: Penetrating abdominal wound injury at the left paramedian region measuring 5 cm in length, with small bowel and colon injuries. An approximately 20 cm of proximal jejunum and 2 cm of transverse colon were unsalvageable and resected on 29 May 2015, followed by bowel anastomosis on 30 May 2015; Right arm wound laceration measuring 15 cm in length. This wound was debrided and sutured on 29 May 2015; Right cheek laceration measuring 5 cm in length. This wound was washed and sutured on 29 May 2015; Left upper back horizontal wound laceration over the scapula spine measuring 4 cm in length. This wound was debrided and sutured on 29 May 2015; and Right front bone fracture involving the outer table of the skull, with overlying right frontal wound laceration measuring 10 cm in length. This fracture was seen on the Computed Tomography scan of the brain taken on 29 May 2015, with no underlying intracranial haemorrhage. The frontal bone was decompressed, and the wound laceration was washed and sutured on 29 May 2015.

The victim was last seen at NUH on 2 November 2015. He reported that he was eating well and able to go back to work. He has minimal chest discomfort at night which does not require further treatment.

The registration plate number of the car which the accused drove to the scene was captured on a CCTV camera. The identity of the accused was established, and he was arrested on 9 June 2015 at about midnight at the multi-storey carpark located near to his home.

Driving whilst under disqualification, without insurance coverage and without consent

The complainant is the owner of a BMW 5 series motor car. Sometime in 2014, the complainant handed over the car and the vehicle key to the accused for safe keeping. The car was parked at the multi-storey carpark located near the accused’s flat at Block 653 Senja Link.

On 29 May 2015 at about 10.30am, the accused took and drove away the car from the carpark without the consent of the complainant. Thereafter, the accused drove the car along the single-lane dual carriage way of Hillview Terrace.

On 17 July 2008, the accused was disqualified from driving all classes of vehicles for eight years for a similar offence of driving whilst under disqualification.

The accused thus committed the offences of driving whilst being disqualified, driving without insurance coverage and taking and driving away the car without the consent of the complainant.

Mitigation

The accused is 33 years of age. He was a property agent with OrangeTee. He lives with his girlfriend and parents at his parents flat. He provides for his aged parents financially. He father is not working due to a stroke. His mother is a kitchen assistant.

In February 2015, the accused asked his girlfriend about her past relationships. She told him about her relationship with the victim, and said that she ended it because she found out that he was married and had a child whilst they were in a relationship. She also said the victim had cheated on her with other women. The accused was enraged as he felt that the victim did not respect women and has no moral values. He felt the need to stand up and protect his girlfriend. The accused decided that the victim needed to stop womanising so that other women will not be hurt.

It was claimed that when the accused met the victim as arranged, he recalled the ‘bad things’ that he had done to his girlfriend and to other women. It was added that it ‘flashed’ across the accused’s mind that the victim will continue to harm more women in future and some of them may end up suicidal. As a result, he ‘lost his mind’ and slashed the victim.

It was also submitted that the accused coped with the stresses of life by fantasising and visualising about his guardian angel ‘Michael’. It was said that the accused felt he had acted on the instructions of ‘Michael’ who wanted him to teach the victim a lesson.

It was claimed that the accused was traumatised and had not been sleeping properly. He fully cooperated in the course of investigations and was remorseful for having acted impulsively.

The accused saw a psychiatrist, Dr Ang Yong Guan (‘Dr Ang’), after he was charged. Dr Ang stated that the accused has a ‘Personality Disorder’ characterised by low self-esteem, emotional insecurity, poor anger control, impulsivity, poor mood regulation and the need for perfection.

Learned counsel urged me to impose the following sentences: 30 months imprisonment and six strokes for the section 326 charge. In this regard, he relied on the case of PP v Muraliendren s/o Thoonday and Aziz s/o Mohamed Hanifa [2016] SGDC 2. 1 year’s imprisonment with a driving disqualification term of 25 years for the charge of driving whilst under disqualification. He urged me to order the imprisonment term to run concurrently. one week’s imprisonment and a driving disqualification term of four years for the charge of driving without insurance coverage. a fine of $500 for the charge of driving without owner’s consent.

Sentence Section 326 charge

The punishment prescribed under section 326 of the Penal Code is imprisonment for life or mandatory imprisonment up to 15 years and in addition fine or caning may also be imposed.

I shall first deal with the reported precedents based on which an imprisonment range of between 30 months to four years was derived by the parties, with the defence suggesting 30 months imprisonment. R v Yoganathan v PP [1999] 3 SLR(R) 346 Offender was convicted after a...