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[h=2]Pastor uses Woffles Wu case to argue against jail term for providing false information[/h]Posted by temasektimes on August 24, 2012
The Woffles Wu case has opened a Pandora’s box for the judicial system in Singapore with subsequent offenders of similar offences now using it as a precedent to appeal against a jail sentence.
Woffles Wu (pic left) was sentenced to only a $1,000 fine instead of a usual jail term for providing false information to the traffic police by getting his elderly employee to take the rap for his speeding offences.
The verdict sparked a massive outcry among Singaporeans forcing the Attorney-General Chambers and the Law Minister to issue a public statement to explain the reasoning behind the uncharacteristic light sentence for Woffles.
Now, pastor Steven Yang from Eternal Life Baptist Church is using the Woffles case to appeal against his jail sentence of two weeks for giving false information under the Customs Act.
On Jan 3, Yang had attempted to leave Singapore for Malaysia without the required amount of fuel, or at least three-quarters of the tank, in his car.
When asked by the immigration officer, Yang maintained that his car’s fuel indicator – which showed it was three-quarters full – was accurate and that the fuel gauge had not been tampered with.
However, an inspection of the car found it had less than one-quarter tank of full.
Yang’s lawyer Peter Ong drew similarities to Woffles’ case to question ed if the Senior District Judge had placed previous sentencing precedents “on an altar and obsessively worshipped them”.
In both cases, the false information given was to evade a small speeding fine or a “small amount of excise duty on petrol”, said Mr Ong.
However, Deputy Public Prosecutor Sarah Lam said Yang’s sentence was adequate as he had deliberately misled the immigration officer though it has been the case with Woffles too.
The Woffles Wu case has opened a Pandora’s box for the judicial system in Singapore with subsequent offenders of similar offences now using it as a precedent to appeal against a jail sentence.
Woffles Wu (pic left) was sentenced to only a $1,000 fine instead of a usual jail term for providing false information to the traffic police by getting his elderly employee to take the rap for his speeding offences.
The verdict sparked a massive outcry among Singaporeans forcing the Attorney-General Chambers and the Law Minister to issue a public statement to explain the reasoning behind the uncharacteristic light sentence for Woffles.
Now, pastor Steven Yang from Eternal Life Baptist Church is using the Woffles case to appeal against his jail sentence of two weeks for giving false information under the Customs Act.
On Jan 3, Yang had attempted to leave Singapore for Malaysia without the required amount of fuel, or at least three-quarters of the tank, in his car.
When asked by the immigration officer, Yang maintained that his car’s fuel indicator – which showed it was three-quarters full – was accurate and that the fuel gauge had not been tampered with.
However, an inspection of the car found it had less than one-quarter tank of full.
Yang’s lawyer Peter Ong drew similarities to Woffles’ case to question ed if the Senior District Judge had placed previous sentencing precedents “on an altar and obsessively worshipped them”.
In both cases, the false information given was to evade a small speeding fine or a “small amount of excise duty on petrol”, said Mr Ong.
However, Deputy Public Prosecutor Sarah Lam said Yang’s sentence was adequate as he had deliberately misled the immigration officer though it has been the case with Woffles too.
