Prosecution appeal for rehab, not jail, puts judge in a fix
Selina Lum
The Straits Times
Saturday, Aug 03, 2013
SINGAPORE - An appeal by prosecutors to send three national serviceman for reformative training instead of jail for theft has put a High Court judge in a quandary.
Justice Chao Hick Tin said if he imposed reformative training, the trio, who are serving jail time for their crime, will have to start their sentences all over again as the time spent behind bars so far will not count.
Questioning whether this would be fair to them, the judge said: "Is this the sort of justice I should impose?"
He added that he would have to ponder on it and look at the case from a broader perspective.
Still, he called for reports to evaluate whether they are suitable for reformative training.
The trio are Saiful Rizam Assim and Muhammad Erman Iman Tauhid, both 20, and Muhammad Yunus Aziz, 19.
They are serving jail terms of between seven months and 11/2 years.
Their pro bono lawyer Amarick Gill said Saiful is due to be freed on Aug 24, while the other two would be out of prison early next year.
Reformative training is a regime in which offenders below age 21 are detained at a reformative training centre for between 11/2 and three years, as they undergo structured rehabilitation programmes.
The trio had gone on a stealing spree at a police station last year.
Erman, a Special Constabulary officer, and Saiful and Yunus, Vigilante Corps officers, were posted to the case property store at the Ang Mo Kio police division, where items seized in investigations were kept in cabinets.
On April 13 last year, when the officer-in-charge was on leave, Saiful searched her table and found the keys to the cabinets. He stole four phones and gave two to Erman.
Erman later made off with more items, mainly mobile phones. Yunus was also roped in.
The thefts continued until July 16 last year.
In January this year, they were packed off to jail after they pleaded guilty in a district court.
But Deputy Public Prosecutor Leong Wing Tuck argued on Wednesday that the district judge's reasoning for sending them to jail - because it meant a shorter time in custody compared to reformative training - was wrong.
The DPP argued that the judge should have recognised rehabilitation as the main sentencing consideration.
The case is expected to come back to court in three weeks.
