Is She Better Off in Jail or IMH?

[Vinceng]

 

Really sad case. The defendant is likely to have a faster recovery and integrate better into society if she is admitted into IMH and treated there, rather than spend 10 years in jail.

 

Does the Public Prosecutor have a heart?

 

Something very wrong with Singapore's judicial system.

 

 

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/mum-who-pushed-son-out-of/1379930.html

 

SINGAPORE: Feeling stressed out as she had been unemployed for some time and was financially dependent on her ageing mother, Rebecca Loh Chui Lai was worried about providing for her nine-year-old son.

Believing that the authorities would remove him from her care if she injured him badly enough, Loh, who has schizophrenia, pushed her son out of the window of their fifth-floor flat, causing him to plunge to his death.

For this, Loh, who has shown flashes of violent behaviour in the past, was on Wednesday (Sep 24) sentenced to 10 years’ jail.

Loh had pleaded guilty to one charge of culpable homicide not amounting to murder under Section 304(b) of the Penal Code, which is for an offence committed knowing that it would likely cause death but without the intention of causing death, or cause a bodily injury likely to cause death. The maximum jail term for the charge is 10 years.

Loh, a single mother, was diagnosed with schizophrenia in 2006 and had been warded at the Institute of Mental Health (IMH) on several occasions. The 32-year-old was initially charged with murder.

She was determined to be mentally fit to stand trial, but the charge was later amended. Her son, Gabriel Loh Zhen Jie, was diagnosed with a liver condition shortly after his birth and suffered from osteoporosis.

STOPPED TAKING MEDICATION

The court heard on Wednesday that Loh was remanded at IMH from Feb 24 to Mar 10, 2011. She had been charged after she went to a coffee shop with a chopper, thinking that a stranger had made fun of her. Two weeks before the incident, she had stopped taking her medication.

Later that year in December, Loh was admitted to IMH after she had hit her mother for not allowing her to go for a movie. She complied with follow-up treatment until April 2012, but stopped after that, saying travelling to IMH was a hindrance. She failed to keep her follow-up appointments at a community clinic. In February last year, she was admitted to IMH again after she tried to strangle her mother.

On June 1 last year, Loh carried Gabriel from the living room to the kitchen window of her mother’s flat on West Coast Road. She then lifted him onto the small ledge outside the kitchen window and pushed his hands away as he cried and held on to the bamboo

clothes-drying poles. She eventually managed to dislodge his grip and he fell to the ground.

On Wednesday, Deputy Public Prosecutor Eugene Lee urged the court to impose a jail term of eight to 10 years. “(Loh) needs to be incapacitated for a substantial period of time due to the high risk of her relapsing and the danger that she poses should she suffer a relapse,” he said.

The prosecution also submitted a report by an IMH psychiatrist, which stated that Loh was at a moderate to high risk of future violence and had poor insight into her mental disorder.

Lawyer Amarick Gill, who represented Loh, said this was not a classic case of culpable homicide. It involved an offender with a serious mental condition yet is of sound mind, and a victim who suffered greatly as a result of physical disabilities from birth, he said.

In sentencing on Wednesday, Justice Tay Yong Kwang said he had taken Loh’s history, the hope of a complete recovery and the safety of those she comes into contact with into account.

During the hearing, Loh smiled and mumbled to herself. Her family was not present.

-TODAY/cy

Edited September 25, 2014 by Vinceng

[Ender]

 

 

Really sad case. The defendant is likely to have a faster recovery and integrate better into society if she is admitted into IMH and treated there, rather than spend 10 years in jail.

 

Does the Public Prosecutor have a heart?

 

Something very wrong with Singapore's judicial system.

 

 

Does Singapore has a high security mental institution like in the USA?

[Myxilplix]

Does Singapore has a high security mental institution like in the USA?

 

I believe it's called "Parliament".

[Watwheels]

Sad lah. How to find job for someone who has a mental history? Pity the boy though. RIP.

[ins1dious]

 

 

Really sad case. The defendant is likely to have a faster recovery and integrate better into society if she is admitted into IMH and treated there, rather than spend 10 years in jail.

 

Does the Public Prosecutor have a heart?

 

Something very wrong with Singapore's judicial system.

 

Its a dreary Thursday and news like this makes me even more miserable. As someone with a close family member suffering from autism, I'm at a loss to comprehend the crime and punishment.

 

The treatment for autism 25 years ago by IMH was a failure... They were trying to cure him, whereas now we can understand that the aim should have been to help him better integrate with society.

 

IMH now have a better understanding about mental health disabilities such as autism and schizophrenia. A sentence served there that will help rehabilitate this patient and would have been better than a jail cell.

[TVT]

Very sad to read this....

[Ahseng]

It's better that she's locked up, anywhere dosen't really matter, if let her out might even kill her mother too.

[Jman888]

another meaning of long jail term is for the state to take care of her which will also be assessed by IMH, release her but put her in IMH mean she has to pay.

Edited September 25, 2014 by Jman888

[Whathefish]

another meaning of long jail term is for the state to take care of her which will also be assessed by IMH, release her but put her in IMH mean she has to pay.

 

very sad case.....RIP boy.

 

go IMH must pay? if go jail...good luck to her new cell mates

[GLZT]

 

Its a dreary Thursday and news like this makes me even more miserable. As someone with a close family member suffering from autism, I'm at a loss to comprehend the crime and punishment.

 

The treatment for autism 25 years ago by IMH was a failure... They were trying to cure him, whereas now we can understand that the aim should have been to help him better integrate with society.

 

IMH now have a better understanding about mental health disabilities such as autism and schizophrenia. A sentence served there that will help rehabilitate this patient and would have been better than a jail cell.

Sad to hear that the treatment had failed, I've a close relative that suffers from autism as well, since young however, his parents refused to admits their child's condition, they refused to send him for treatment and now his condition deteriotes so much from since he wad young. Dont even have the chance to get treatment cause of his parents.

[Jman888]

 

very sad case.....RIP boy.

 

go IMH must pay? if go jail...good luck to her new cell mates

 

 

jail term is for the crime, she will still be admitted to IMH (i think they do have 'prison' in IMH), and some case no need to share room lah.

[Whathefish]

 

 

jail term is for the crime, she will still be admitted to IMH (i think they do have 'prison' in IMH), and some case no need to share room lah.

so dun need to pay mah..it is not easy been a single parent....feel so sorry for her n the kid...

[Jman888]

so dun need to pay mah..it is not easy been a single parent....feel so sorry for her n the kid...

 

 

blame the man

[Whathefish]

 

 

blame the man

 

but we also dun know wat actually happened....i noticed the boy bears the same surname as the mother.

[Getzsfv]

On June 1 last year, Loh carried Gabriel from the living room to the kitchen window of her mother’s flat on West Coast Road. She then lifted him onto the small ledge outside the kitchen window and pushed his hands away as he cried and held on to the bamboo clothes-drying poles. She eventually managed to dislodge his grip and he fell to the ground.

Read above... just imagine your kid crying holding on to his life and you dislodge the hands from the bamboo poles... I say let her rot in there lah.. fark man

[Vid]

Life sucks. Life in SG sucks x 2.

[Ender]

 

 

jail term is for the crime, she will still be admitted to IMH (i think they do have 'prison' in IMH), and some case no need to share room lah.

Back to my earlier post, does IMH has the security in place for criminally insane? She was deemed high risk and dangerous and IMH is very accessible to the public. If not, then she really got to do jail time and see psychiatrist at the same time.

Edited September 25, 2014 by Ender

[Getzsfv]

 

On June 1 last year, Loh carried Gabriel from the living room to the kitchen window of her mother’s flat on West Coast Road. She then lifted him onto the small ledge outside the kitchen window and pushed his hands away as he cried and held on to the bamboo clothes-drying poles. She eventually managed to dislodge his grip and he fell to the ground.

Read above... just imagine your kid crying holding on to his life and you dislodge the hands from the bamboo poles... I say let her rot in there lah.. fark man

 

But my point Im driving at, you can't just plead insanity after the cruel act that you do rite.. I mean, how more cruel can you someone be, the last thing the son saw before he died is how the mother is trying to kill him..when parent are supposed to be the people who protect them.... My god, seriously...