Corrective training pushed for spike-drink offender

[Jabba the Hutt]

Jun 23, 2011

Corrective training pushed for spike-drink offender

Haslam Ismail used Midazolam to drug Ms Chen Xiaorong. Dr Lim Wei Kian of Tan Tock Seng Hospital testified that Midazolam was found in her blood sample. -- ST PHOTO: DESMOND WEE

HE DID not have a lawyer for his five-day trial but on Thursday, Haslam Ismail wanted to hire one after learning that he had been deemed suitable for corrective training (CT) and could now be jailed up to 15 years. The 47-year-old jobless man told District Judge Jasbendar Kaur that he wanted to engage counsel to plead for a lighter sentence and the matter adjourned till July 14.

Haslam had been found guilty and convicted on June 3 this year of giving spiked drinks to a foreign woman and stealing her belongings. He was only nabbed in February after he was arrested using another person's identity card to enter the Marina Bay Sands Casino. The divorcee has pleaded guilty to this offence but has not been sentenced.

During the trial last month, the court heard that Haslam had pretended to be a tourist from Dubai and offered to buy Ms Chen Xiaorong, 38, a cup of coffee at 1.30am on Jan 13.

She testified that Haslam came across as a gentleman but she was 'in a daze' after the drink at the Heeren. She woke up in a room in the Fragrance Hotel Crystal in Lorong 18 Geylang and found cash amounting to $350, her Rolex watch valued at $3,600, and a $200 cell phone, missing.

Video footage from the hotel was produced and showed Haslam checking in with a dazed-looking Ms Chen. Dr Lim Wei Kian of Tan Tock Seng Hospital testified that Midazolam was found in her blood sample. The drug is known to induce sedation and amnesia.

Haslam also stole cash of $1,470 and a $342 mobile phone from another woman from China he drugged in December 27 last year in a room in Happy Hotel at Lorong 10 Geylang.

When he was convicted on June 3, prosecutors Sanjiv Vaswani and Asran Samad convinced the judge to order a CT report to evaluate Haslam's suitability for the harsher prison regime because of his long criminal record.
Records indicate he has been spiking drinks of women since 1993.

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[Kanetsugu Naoe]

Jul 20, 2011

Spike and steal man gets corrective training

By Elena Chong

Midazolam (above), used to induce sedation and amnesia, was found in her blood. -- ST PHOTO: DESMOND WEE

AN UNEMPLOYED man who was convicted of drugging a Chinese national and stealing her belongings was sentenced to six years' corrective training on Wednesday.

Mohd Haslam Ismail, 48, was found guilty last month of administering a stupefying drug and stealing $350, a $3,600 Rolex watch and a $200 cellphone from Ms Chen Xiaorong, 38, at Fragrance Hotel Crystal in Geylang on Jan 13, 2011.

He was arrested in February for using another person's identity card to get into Marina Bay Sands casino. He had pleaded guilty to this charge.

Ms Chen had testified that shortly after meeting Haslam on Jan 13, they went to McDonald's at The Heeren on Orchard Road, where he offered her a cup of coffee. She felt as if she was 'in a daze' after drinking it.

The couple checked into the Geylang hotel. When she woke up, she found her property missing.

Midazolam, used to induce sedation and amnesia, was found in her blood.

Haslam, who has two other charges considered, has a string of previous convictions including spiking the drinks of women since 1993. He was last given 36 months in 1999.

 

[Red Squadron]

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