offences while he was on his second probation and he was sentenced to a total imprisonment term of 13 months on 22 March 2013.
Mitigation
13 The Counsel for the accused referred this Court to the psychiatric assessment report by Doctor Derrick Yeo, dated 20th January 2014 where Dr Derrick Yeo opined that the accused offending behaviour does have a causal link to his psychiatric condition of Fetishism and suggested that should the accused be imprisoned he should still be reviewed regularly by a psychiatrist in prison. In his written submission, the Counsel for the accused referred to the case of Ng So Kuen [2003] 3 SLR 178 and urged this Court not to impose a deterrent imprisonment sentence but to consider the unique circumstances of this case and grant the accused a means of rehabilitation, that is, a custodial sentence of 3 years, where he can continue his treatment while he is in prison.
Prosecution’s Submission on Sentence
14 The Prosecution indicated that they are not pressing for preventive detention but asking for a substantial custodial term to be imposed in view of the accused lengthy antecedents, his lack of remorse and total disregard for the authorities. While there was a causal link between his offending behaviour and his psychiatric condition, this first report was made prior to the accused’s re-offending on 5th and 12th August 2014.
Sentence
15 In Ng Soo Kuen Connie at [57], Yong Pung How CJ enunciated the relevant principles of sentencing in cases of psychiatric disorders, citing the case of R v Wiskich [2000] SASC 64 at [62] (a decision of the Supreme Court of South Australia) as follows:
“The starting point for the consideration of the appropriate sentence in this case ought to be the fact that the appellant was belabouring under a serious psychiatric condition at the time of the incident..... An assessment of the severity of the disorder is required. A sentencing court must determine the impact of the disorder upon both the offender's thought processes and the capacity of the offender to appreciate the gravity and significance of the criminal conduct. ... It is not difficult to understand that the element of general deterrence can readily be given considerably less weight in the case of an offender suffering from a significant mental disorder who commits a minor crime, particularly if a causal relationship exists between the mental disorder and the commission of such an offence. In some circumstances, however, the mental disorder may not be serious or causally related to the commission of the crime, and the circumstances of the crime so grave, that very little weight in mitigation can be given to the existence of the mental disorder and full weight must be afforded to the element of general deterrence. In between those extremes, an infinite variety of circumstances will arise in which competing considerations must be balanced. [emphasis added]
16 I note that in the second psychiatric report dated 2 September 2014, Dr. Subhash Gupta opined that accused had no depressive symptoms in spite of not being on any antidepressants, and the accused’s records indicated that his Fetishistic urges had significantly reduced of which he attributed to the counselling sessions and therapeutic input from the psychologist at Institute of Mental Health. The accused said that none of his index offences were an intention of or led him to deriving sexual gratification from the stolen objects.
17 I note that the circumstances of this case indicated that accused committed the offences with pre-mediation and deliberate planning in targeting unsuspecting victims who left their belongings in the shopping trolleys unattended. He had shown scant regard to the victims by disposing their personal belongings and stealing their mobile phones thus causing severe inconvenience and distress to the victims. His second psychiatric assessment report indicated, by his own admission, that his Fetishism disorder is not so serious as he did not use any of the stolen objects to fulfil his sexual gratification. Dr Subhash Gupta interviewed the accused’s wife who informed him that the accused did not express or exhibit any fetishistic urges or behaviour and that she had a normal sexual life with the accused.
18 I agree with the Prosecution that preventive detention is not warranted in view of his Fetishism disorder but a substantial custodial sentence is called for in view of his utter lack of remorse notwithstanding that the Learned District Judge in Court 11 had on two occasions granted him probation for him to reform. Having considered the facts and circumstances and the mitigation by the Counsel for the accused, I was of the view that a global sentence of three years’ imprisonment as requested by the Counsel to enable the accused to receive treatment whilst he is in prison would serve the ends of justice and help in his rehabilitation.
19 I therefore sentenced him to two years’ imprisonment for the first charge and one year’s imprisonment each for the other two charges and ordered the first and second sentences to be consecutive by virtue of Section 307(1) of the Criminal Procedure Code 2010, giving a total of three years’ imprisonment. The accused being dissatisfied with the sentence has lodged an appeal. He is now serving the sentence which was backdated to 16 August 2014.