WOMAN, JAILED & FINED FOR THEFT, DEFENDED HERSELF IN COURT
YES, HE DID
NO, HE DIDN'T
Woman claimed in court that husband forced her to commit crimes
But when challenged by judge to give details, she retracted claims
By Tay Shi'an
January 12, 2008
SHE claimed that her husband had forced her into prostitution and made her steal from her clients.
The woman, looking at photos of her two children, aged 1 and 2. Her husband is in jail and she's pregnant with the child of another man. --Picture: TAY SHI'AN
Sobbing on the stand, the 23-year-old asked the judge to take pity on her as she has two young daughters and her husband was in jail.
She is also pregnant with another man's baby.
But when the judge pressed her for details on how her husband had 'pestered' her into committing the crimes, and asked why she dared to co-habit with another man if she was in such fear of her husband, she retracted her claims.
The woman, who was accompanied to court by her current boyfriend, pleaded guilty to stealing handphones from two clients.
In one case in July last year, she stole a client's handphone while he was in the shower and jumped into a getaway car driven by her husband.
A high-speed chase ensued as the victim pursued them on the PIE from Geylang to the Adam Road exit. They were stopped at a police roadblock.
The woman was sentenced to five days' jail and fined a total of $4,000 for the two thefts.
Two charges of solicitation were also taken into consideration.
Her husband, 44, was sentenced last October to eight years in prison for a string of offences, including managing and living in part off her earnings as a prostitute for two years, drug-trafficking and drug-taking.
According to media reports then, he had lived off more than $70,000 that she had earned in about two years, and used it to settle his debts.
He would take her to Geylang and keep watch for police officers.
We are not naming the woman to protect the identity of her two children, aged 1 and 2.
She told The New Paper that she met her husband four years ago after running away from home.
They married in early 2005, after a six-month courtship, and lived in a four-room flat in the north of Singapore.
She said: 'I was desperate and wanted a home of my own, and he was older, more secure. The way he talked was very sweet.'
She claimed her husband worked odd-jobs while she was pregnant with their first child.
After that, he lived off her earnings as a prostitute.
She claimed that he would often take their two young daughters along when they went to Geylang, as there was no one to look after them.
Father and children would wait in the car while she was with the clients.
She said: 'When I was arrested, my mum came and took my first daughter away, and wouldn't let me see her. She said I was dirty and had to clean up.'
She said she had visited her husband in prison only once, and planned to divorce him.
'After we got married, my life was like a horror movie,' she claimed.
There was also plenty of drama when she appeared in court on Wednesday.
She showed up an hour late, accompanied by a 37-year-old man who, she said, is her 'future husband'.
She then asked her Legal Aid Bureau-assigned lawyer if the case could be adjourned.
He told her it was not possible as she had repeatedly asked for adjournments before. She was first charged in August last year.
IGNORES LAWYER'S ADVICE
But when she kept repeating her request even after District Judge Lee Poh Choo said it was not possible, her lawyer asked if he could be discharged, as his client would not take his advice.
But he would still act for her if she agreed to have her case heard that day.
But when asked by the judge, she chose to let the lawyer discharge himself.
The judge then told her the case had to proceed, and asked if she needed time to prepare her mitigation plea, but she declined.
She told the judge through a translator not to jail her and impose a fine instead, as she wanted to turn over a new leaf for the sake of her two young daughters.
She claimed that her husband had 'pestered' her to commit the crimes.
'He had warned me that if I refuse to go along with him, he would assault me. And I committed all this out of fear as I didn't want to be hit by my husband.'
She added that she's now living with her boyfriend, and found out two weeks ago that she is pregnant.
She is now unemployed, and earns $1,300 a month from renting out two bedrooms in her flat.
Her statement prompted the judge to ask: 'You say you're afraid your husband would assault you. Yet you cohabit with a man?'
The judge also asked her sharply how she managed to get help from the Legal Aid Bureau, given her rental income.
The woman claimed the relationship began only a month ago, and she had rented out the rooms recently.
Assistant Public Prosecutor Olivine Lin pointed out that in her statements to the police, the woman had not said anything about her husband forcing her to commit the offences.
When the woman insisted that her husband had forced her, the judge rejected her guilty plea and ordered the trial to proceed.
She then changed her mind and retracted her statement.
After the judge sentenced her, the woman was led away in tears.
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