Is this enough? Are we happy with this?
The investigation officer who handled of the Suntec City brawl
incident has been charged with negligence. (AFP file photo)
The police officer who handled the
Suntec City brawl incident in 2010 has been charged with
neglect of duty.
Second Minister for Home Affairs, and Trade and Industry
S Iswaran said the
Singapore Police Force (SPF) has completed its internal
inquiry, and charged the investigation officer who handled the case
with negligence. A letter of warning has also been issued to his
supervisor, S Iswaran informed the House during Tuesday's
Parliament.
“I would also point out that the lapse was due to the error of an
individual rather than to any systematic shortcomings,” S Iswaran
said, answering Member of Parliament (MP)
Tin Pei Ling’s question for an update on the police
inquiry.
This is after two of the three expatriates -- options brokers New
Zealander Robert Stephen Dahlberg and Briton Robert James Springall
– absconded while on bail after they were charged with assault in
July 2010. A third man, Australian business development manager
Nathan Robert Miller, 35, pleaded guilty and was sentenced to three
weeks’ jail in February this year.
The trio were allegedly drunk when they attacked two taxi drivers
and two taxi passengers and hijacked and crashed a taxi in April
2010, reported
AsiaOne. Dahlberg allegedly caused hurt to businessman Laurence
Wong Seong and shoved Paul Louis Liew Kai Ming against a pillar,
who sustained a forehead gash and a broken nose. Miller had also
allegedly punched cabby Tay Gek Heng in the face during the
incident.
While Miller served time, his friends Dahlberg, 34, and Springall,
25, were allowed to leave Singapore after they were charged.
Dahlberg was out on bail for S$25,000 last July when he went on
trips to London and Hong Kong and did not return. Springall,
travelled back to the United Kingdom between August and September
on a bail of $12,000. After returning from his trip,
Springall failed to surrender his passport to the authorities and
flew out of Singapore in December 2011 and absconded.
Both men jumped bail and warrants of arrest have been issued to
the police’s overseas counterparts and the Interpol.
In light of the incident, MP David Ong asked during Parliament
whether the Penal Code and other criminal legislation are
sufficiently adequate to protect Singaporeans from offences and
crimes committed by foreigners against them.
In response, S Iswaran said that all accused persons and victims
are treated equally under Singapore law, whether they are
Singaporeans or foreigners.
“When setting bail conditions, the police and the courts take a
variety of factors into account to assess the flight risk of the
accused. These include the gravity of the offence, the extent of
the accused person’s roots in Singapore and whether the person have
attempted to abscond previously,” S Iswaran said.
Iswaran also explained that when a person absconds, the bail is
forfeited and the police will arrest the wanted person if he is
still in Singapore. In the event that the accused person flees
overseas, the police may issue an
Interpol Red Notice.
Police forces in the Interpol member states will then help to
locate and arrest the accused person and may extradite the person
back to Singapore.
Tin also asked if further the impounding of passports should be
made a standard operating procedure in cases as it "would ensure
that when the courts need them or when judgment is made, they are
in Singapore to receive the judgment".
Responding to Tin, Iswaran said, "This is really a decision that
we should leave to the courts and not make it mandatory, because
there are so many considerations here. The nature of the crime, the
gravity of the impact, the nature of the individuals' own ties to
Singapore."
"And I think most importantly and fundamentally, we have to
strike that balance between his or her right to freedom to move
before he or she is judged or found to be guilty," he added.
