Bus driver escapes gallows

[General Veers]

Nov 8, 2010

Bus driver escapes gallows

By Selina Lum

The Court of Appeal overturned Ong Pang Siew's murder conviction after it ruled his mental state reduced his responsibility for the killing. -- PHOTO: SPF

BUS driver Ong Pang Siew, originally sentenced to hang for killing his stepdaughter, has escaped the gallows. The Court of Appeal on Monday overturned his murder conviction after it ruled that his depressed mental state reduced his responsibility for the killing.

The three-judge appeal court agreed with the High Court trial judge that Ong, 46, has the intention to kill or cause lethal injury Ong Pan Hui, 15. However, the appeal court was convinced by the evidence of the defence psychiatrist, Dr Tommy Tan, that Ong suffered from a major depressive disorder.

Justice V. K. Rajah, delivering the court's decision, said that Ong's bizarre behaviour, such as laughing and crying while strangling the teenager and banging his head against the wall after the police arrived, further showed this abnormal mental state.

Ong had killed Pan Hui at the Marsiling Drive flat she shared with her mother in October 2007, a few weeks after his ex-wife was granted a divorce from him. The case has been sent back to the High Court for Ong to be sentenced at a later date.

 

[Maeda Keiji]

Man spared death penalty due to mental illness


Man spared death penalty due to mental illness
By Leong Wee Keat | Posted: 08 November 2010 1049 hrs
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SINGAPORE: A bus driver who had been sentenced to hang for killing his step-daughter was on Monday spared the death penalty.

The Court of Appeal took into account Ong Pang Siew's family history of mental illness as well as his own mental state.

It found that although the 46 year old did have the intention to kill or cause injuries, it found he qualified for the defence of diminished responsibility.

Ong had killed 15-year-old Ong Pan Hui at her Marsiling Drive flat on October 20, 2007, a few weeks after her mother was granted a divorce from him.

Ong had a history of mental illness and his bizarre mood swings were seen during the killing when he sat and knelt on the girl long after she had lost consciousness.

Ong was on Monday convicted of culpable homicide instead and would be sentenced at a later date.

-CNA/wk