Jail term from 1.5 yrs to 1 day jail for dangerours driving!

[Jonbummer]

been drafting something to send to ST forum..... had to attack the case from another angle...

 

 

I hereby like to refer to the article http://www.straitstimes.com/Prime%2BNews/S...ory_365028.html

titled Shin Min editor gets a day's jail, $2k fine on 18 April 2009.

 

I am both disgusted and angered by which both the court and the officers of our good court can make such fundamentals errors in making charges. Please spare us of another "honest mistake"? Is it really a mistake?

 

Extracts : "Then, later in the morning, defence lawyers and the prosecutor ran some checks and realised there had been a sentencing error in one of the two charges."

 

What I am suggesting from the report is simply this:

 

This case had first surfaced on ST in July 2008, and within it states that the actual Fatal accident happened two years ago. If I presumed the date to be correct, it will mean someone was killed in 2006.

Which further led me to wonder very out loud how's that both the DPP and defendant's attorney did not realised that the charges to Lim Hong Eng was incorrect during all these time?

Even the judge seems to be absent from all the hearings then.

Is no one was really interested in the well being of the accused.

Or was the mistake made to make to have the auntie got off easy. Very easy, it seems so now because of the gross errors by the court.

 

Then only yesterday, 21 April 2009, ST published a report

http://www.straitstimes.com/Singapore/Stor...ory_366272.html

titled "A-G lets off 'ignorant' lawyers "

It states within the article that about 55 lawyers had breached a legal requirement.

The requirement which requires them under the Legal Profession Act to complete a mandatory Legal Practice Management Course, organised by the Law Society, before taking up their duties as partners, directors or sole proprietors.

 

Extract: "Under the law, those who fail to go for the course before they take up leadership positions in their firms are liable to a fine of up to $10,000."

 

Then " The Attorney-General opted to take no further action on a case-by-case basis. " because their plead

or excuse was 'ignorance'.

 

The requirement was put in place in 2007, and I wonder how this essential information can be ignored or have not been noticed at all.

 

If I may put two and two to have a result of four, then I have a very low opinion of our judicial system and the people managing it. I wonder out loud again on how the clients will and should feel should they discovered their lawyers are simply an 'ignorance' bunch.

 

Edited April 22, 2009 by Jonbummer

[Rocky88]

Civil suit cost a lot of $. The victim is a retired man and the accused is a rich lady... if the law case drag on... who will finally give up and who will win...

 

Correction.. "...accused is a rich AUNTIE..."

[Jiawei90]

Its said to be the one and last time this will happen? Wow, didn't know by saying "I didn't know" got so much discount ah? What if a guy with no respective place in the society says that? Probably rebutted and kicked to jail for 1 1/2 year huh?

[Wanderer]

There was a case very long time ago. The Bar spoke up and youknowwho voice out to rebuke the Bar. you know what happened after that then...

What's the case abt?

 

[Spurman]

here's the story

 

Editor's jail, fine reduced

1 1/2-year jail term for dangerous driving reduced upon appeal

By Selina Lum

 

IT WAS a day of twists and turns for a newspaper editor in the High Court yesterday as she saw her 1 1/2-year jail term slashed to a day and her $12,000 fine reduced to $2,000.

 

Changes after appeal

THE FIRST CHARGE

 

Causing the death of pillion rider Melania Melaniawati, 24, by dangerous driving. Maximum sentence under the law: Up to five years' jail.

... more

Lim Hong Eng, the 56-year-old executive editor of Shin Min Daily News, was in court to hear the outcome of the appeal against her sentence for knocking down and injuring a motorcyclist and killing his female pillion rider.

 

The appeal against her conviction was rejected, but the 1 1/2-year jail term dealt by a lower court was cut to a day's jail and a $12,000 fine on two charges.

 

Then, later in the morning, defence lawyers and the prosecutor ran some checks and realised there had been a sentencing error in one of the two charges.

 

The mistake was for the charge of causing death by dangerous driving, for which she was jailed a day and fined $10,000.

 

The Road Traffic Act does not make a provision for a fine for this offence, only jail time. So it was back to court after the lunch hour.

 

Justice Choo Han Teck set aside the $10,000 fine but did not increase the jail term, saying: 'In the circumstances, it will not be right to increase the custodial sentence to the detriment of the accused.'

 

He made it clear, however, that this was a one-off case and was not to be used as a sentencing precedent.

 

Lim will thus only have to go to jail for a day for the charge of causing death by dangerous driving, and pay a $2,000 fine for the other charge. Her counsel Subhas Anandan later told reporters that his client will donate $10,000 to charity.

 

Really a shocker. Just goes to show some people can get away with anything, even when one's at fault.

Spf boleh......just to bump this up for discussion Edited April 21, 2019 by Spurman

[Kezg1]

Spf boleh......just to bump this up for discussion

Ever since pinky I charge the LOr more advantage to the elites.. as we can always read it in the 154th media.. e.g city Har vest, 50millions.. on 3.5 yrs.. go think abt it... Huat Aah

[Spurman]

Ever since pinky I charge the LOr more advantage to the elites.. as we can always read it in the 154th media.. e.g city Har vest, 50millions.. on 3.5 yrs.. go think abt it... Huat Aah

This 1 day jail result is the day that faith in the system truely breaks down.

[Mockngbrd]

Since when got faith?