<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR>Wife slasher jailed for vicious attack
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><TR>Man gets four years' jail and caning for stabbing frenzy that left wife with 80 scars </TR><!-- Author --><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Khushwant Singh
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The court heard that Tan had shown no mercy and was intent on killing his wife. -- ST PHOTOS: WONG KWAI CHOW
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<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->IT WAS a vicious attack that left his wife with more than 80 scars all over her body.
Yesterday, Russell Tan Rui Leen, 39, paid heavily for the stabbing frenzy: He was jailed for four years and ordered to be caned eight times.
<TABLE width=200 align=left valign="top"><TBODY><TR><TD class=padr8><!-- Vodcast --><!-- Background Story --><STYLE type=text/css> #related .quote {background-color:#E7F7FF; padding:8px;margin:0px 0px 5px 0px;} #related .quote .headline {font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size:10px;font-weight:bold; border-bottom:3px double #007BFF; color:#036; text-transform:uppercase; padding-bottom:5px;} #related .quote .text {font-size:11px;color:#036;padding:5px 0px;} </STYLE>All wife wants now is a divorce
ALL Ms Jann Goh Hwee Suan, 35, wants now is a divorce from her husband, Russell Tan Rui Leen.
After he was sentenced to four years in jail and eight strokes of the cane yesterday, Ms Goh told The Straits Times: 'I just want to move on with my life.'
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>He used two knives - one bent midway through the attack - on his wife after a dispute on Sept 30 last year.
District Judge May Mesenas said a deterrent sentence was needed, as the courts took a serious view of spousal violence. The judge noted that the attack took place in front of the couple's two sons, then aged two and six.
Ms Jann Goh Hwee Suan, 35, has been left mentally scarred, said Deputy Public Prosecutor Cheryl Kam. In a victim impact statement read out in court, Ms Goh said she was plagued by frightful dreams at night and upsetting flashbacks during the day. 'I still have these, but thankfully much more infrequently than before.'
Highlighting the seriousness of the offence, the DPP said the attack occurred in the matrimonial home in Pasir Ris Drive, and Tan had shown no mercy.
The court heard that the investment analyst began the brutal attack by pulling his wife's hair from the back, catching her by surprise and leaving her no way of defending herself. She was physically weaker and was unable to fight him off.
The first knife Tan used on her became bent, so he picked up a larger knife with an 18cm-long blade.
A neighbour, hearing the commotion, tried to reason with Tan, but he turned around with the knife in hand, sending the neighbour scurrying away to call the police, DPP Kam said.
This distraction gave Ms Goh the chance to flee to the toilet, but Tan followed her there and continued his relentless attack.
He disregarded her pleas and even those of his six-year-old son. In reply to his son, he said: 'No, she must die. She must not live. I must kill her.' At one stage, DPP Kam said, Tan even tried to saw off her head.
The recounting of the attack was too much for Ms Goh's mother. She ran out of the courtroom sobbing.
DPP Kam said Tan was intent on killing his wife. Leaving her in the toilet, he returned and resumed stabbing her when he found her still alive.
Tan, who could have been jailed for up to 10 years and caned 24 times, stood completely still in the dock, head bowed throughout the proceedings.
Earlier, his lawyer Lee Yih Gia highlighted the couple's history of marital discord and how they had sought help from counsellors and psychiatrists.
He said: 'Russell was asked on a number of occasions by well-meaning friends to consider a divorce. The fact he did not take the easy way out says a lot about this man.'
He said Dr Lim Yun Chin of Raffles Hospital, who treated the couple, observed in his report that Ms Goh 'knew with accurate precision how to bring out the worst in Russell'.
Tan's sentencing had been postponed from July 29 as Judge Mesenas had asked the prosecution to check on allegations that Tan sent harassing e-mail and SMS messages to his wife after the incident. DPP Kam yesterday informed the court that the police were still investigating. [email protected]
All wife wants now is a divorce
ALL Ms Jann Goh Hwee Suan, 35, wants now is a divorce from her husband, Russell Tan Rui Leen.
After he was sentenced to four years in jail and eight strokes of the cane yesterday, Ms Goh told The Straits Times: 'I just want to move on with my life.'
She denied allegations that had come up in court that she had taunted and abused her husband.
The pharmacist said it was Tan who was the aggressor, shouting vulgarities whenever he did not get his way during their 61/2-year marriage.
'On one occasion, when I needed some space from him, he called my cellphone and left numerous obscene messages,' she said in the telephone interview.
Besides the more than 80 scars, she also cannot fully extend the fingers on her left hand and has difficulty bending her wrist.
She was also very hurt by the allegations that she had been the abuser.
When pleading for leniency for Tan, his lawyer had quoted a counsellor from the Pasir Ris Family Service Centre who described Ms Goh as 'brutally abusive, both verbally and physically'.
'I was definitely not abusive to anyone at the centre, so I want to find out where they got this impression of me,' she said. KHUSHWANT SINGH
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><TR>Man gets four years' jail and caning for stabbing frenzy that left wife with 80 scars </TR><!-- Author --><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Khushwant Singh
</TD></TR><!-- show image if available --><TR vAlign=bottom><TD width=330>
</TD><TD width=10>
The court heard that Tan had shown no mercy and was intent on killing his wife. -- ST PHOTOS: WONG KWAI CHOW
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<TABLE><TBODY><TR><TD>
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->IT WAS a vicious attack that left his wife with more than 80 scars all over her body.
Yesterday, Russell Tan Rui Leen, 39, paid heavily for the stabbing frenzy: He was jailed for four years and ordered to be caned eight times.
<TABLE width=200 align=left valign="top"><TBODY><TR><TD class=padr8><!-- Vodcast --><!-- Background Story --><STYLE type=text/css> #related .quote {background-color:#E7F7FF; padding:8px;margin:0px 0px 5px 0px;} #related .quote .headline {font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size:10px;font-weight:bold; border-bottom:3px double #007BFF; color:#036; text-transform:uppercase; padding-bottom:5px;} #related .quote .text {font-size:11px;color:#036;padding:5px 0px;} </STYLE>All wife wants now is a divorce
ALL Ms Jann Goh Hwee Suan, 35, wants now is a divorce from her husband, Russell Tan Rui Leen.
After he was sentenced to four years in jail and eight strokes of the cane yesterday, Ms Goh told The Straits Times: 'I just want to move on with my life.'
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>He used two knives - one bent midway through the attack - on his wife after a dispute on Sept 30 last year.
District Judge May Mesenas said a deterrent sentence was needed, as the courts took a serious view of spousal violence. The judge noted that the attack took place in front of the couple's two sons, then aged two and six.
Ms Jann Goh Hwee Suan, 35, has been left mentally scarred, said Deputy Public Prosecutor Cheryl Kam. In a victim impact statement read out in court, Ms Goh said she was plagued by frightful dreams at night and upsetting flashbacks during the day. 'I still have these, but thankfully much more infrequently than before.'
Highlighting the seriousness of the offence, the DPP said the attack occurred in the matrimonial home in Pasir Ris Drive, and Tan had shown no mercy.
The court heard that the investment analyst began the brutal attack by pulling his wife's hair from the back, catching her by surprise and leaving her no way of defending herself. She was physically weaker and was unable to fight him off.
The first knife Tan used on her became bent, so he picked up a larger knife with an 18cm-long blade.
A neighbour, hearing the commotion, tried to reason with Tan, but he turned around with the knife in hand, sending the neighbour scurrying away to call the police, DPP Kam said.
This distraction gave Ms Goh the chance to flee to the toilet, but Tan followed her there and continued his relentless attack.
He disregarded her pleas and even those of his six-year-old son. In reply to his son, he said: 'No, she must die. She must not live. I must kill her.' At one stage, DPP Kam said, Tan even tried to saw off her head.
The recounting of the attack was too much for Ms Goh's mother. She ran out of the courtroom sobbing.
DPP Kam said Tan was intent on killing his wife. Leaving her in the toilet, he returned and resumed stabbing her when he found her still alive.
Tan, who could have been jailed for up to 10 years and caned 24 times, stood completely still in the dock, head bowed throughout the proceedings.
Earlier, his lawyer Lee Yih Gia highlighted the couple's history of marital discord and how they had sought help from counsellors and psychiatrists.
He said: 'Russell was asked on a number of occasions by well-meaning friends to consider a divorce. The fact he did not take the easy way out says a lot about this man.'
He said Dr Lim Yun Chin of Raffles Hospital, who treated the couple, observed in his report that Ms Goh 'knew with accurate precision how to bring out the worst in Russell'.
Tan's sentencing had been postponed from July 29 as Judge Mesenas had asked the prosecution to check on allegations that Tan sent harassing e-mail and SMS messages to his wife after the incident. DPP Kam yesterday informed the court that the police were still investigating. [email protected]
All wife wants now is a divorce
ALL Ms Jann Goh Hwee Suan, 35, wants now is a divorce from her husband, Russell Tan Rui Leen.
After he was sentenced to four years in jail and eight strokes of the cane yesterday, Ms Goh told The Straits Times: 'I just want to move on with my life.'
She denied allegations that had come up in court that she had taunted and abused her husband.
The pharmacist said it was Tan who was the aggressor, shouting vulgarities whenever he did not get his way during their 61/2-year marriage.
'On one occasion, when I needed some space from him, he called my cellphone and left numerous obscene messages,' she said in the telephone interview.
Besides the more than 80 scars, she also cannot fully extend the fingers on her left hand and has difficulty bending her wrist.
She was also very hurt by the allegations that she had been the abuser.
When pleading for leniency for Tan, his lawyer had quoted a counsellor from the Pasir Ris Family Service Centre who described Ms Goh as 'brutally abusive, both verbally and physically'.
'I was definitely not abusive to anyone at the centre, so I want to find out where they got this impression of me,' she said. KHUSHWANT SINGH
