Case commentaries
| Date | 01 January 2016 |
| DOI | 10.1177/1365712715623224 |
| Published date | 01 January 2016 |
| Author | Jeremy Gans |
| Subject Matter | Case Commentary |
Case Commentary
Case commentaries
Jeremy Gans
Melbourne Law School, Melbourne University, Australia
Confessions—Singapore
I want the court to quickly deal with the matter and after I am being hanged, to send my body back to my
parents as early as possible because my father is a heart patient and my father’s 2nd wife is also not in good
health. My family is in great difficulties and they will not be in a position to come and visit me very often. As
such, I do not want to cause problem to my family, the officers who are involved in this case, the Singapore
government. I want to plead guilty to the offence as quickly as I could and I also want to be punished as early
as possible. I do not want to be punished very late after I had already pleaded guilty because if my father
comes to know about this matter in the meantime, he may die of the shock. For the past 14 years, I have been
away from my family and have been staying with them only for the past 4 months. I do not want to hear of my
parent’s death while I am alive. Even now while I am in the lock up here, I could hear my parent’s voice
crying and weeping for me. If I remain in the lock up for long, I will get mad. Hence, when I appear in Court
on the 20th of this month, I will admit to the charge and I want to be punished immediately. I request the
recording officer in this matter to help me do this favour. I am prepared to fall on your feet to seek this favour.
That’s all.
The above statement was made by a 29-year-old Malaysian to a Central Narcotics Bureau investigator
three days after he was stopped at a checkpoint into Singapore riding a motorcycle with 83g of diamor-
phine concealed in its seat.
In Public Prosecutor vDevendran i/l Supramaniam [2014] SGHC 140, a judge of Singapore’s High
Court held that this statement was a ‘confession’, defined in that nation’s Evidence Act as ‘a state-
ment ...which suggests any inference as to any fact in issue or relevant fact ... made at any time by
a person accused of an offence, stating or suggesting the inference that he committed that offence’.
Justice Tan Siong Thye observed that after he was stopped, the defendant:
gave a statement exonerating himself from the offence on the ground that someone could have hidden the
drug in his motorcycle seat without his knowledge. Three days later, he gave a statement indicating that
he wanted to plead guilty to the charge of importation of diamorphine. He requested for his case to be dealt
with quickly as he wanted to be hung expeditiously. In these circumstances the accused was aware and had
the knowledge that he was facing a charge of importation of diamorphine as the drugs were found hidden in
his motorcycle seat. Therefore, when he gave a voluntary statement on 15 May 2011 pleading guilty to the
charge, he knew exactly what he was pleading guilty to and that admission fulfils the definition of a ‘confes-
sion’ under s 17 of the Evidence Act. Through such a confession, the accused had effectively admitted to the
Corresponding author:
Jeremy Gans, Melbourne Law School, Melbourne University, 185 Pelham street, Carlton, Melbourne, VIC 3025, Australia.
E-mail: Jeremy.gans@unimelb.edu.au
The International Journalof
Evidence & Proof
2016, Vol. 20(1) 78–82
ªThe Author(s) 2015
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DOI: 10.1177/1365712715623224
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