Government sued for 3 extra strokes

Madam Ho’s son Dickson Tan Yong Wen, 20, was given eight strokes of the cane in prison after he pleaded guilty to abetting an illegal moneylender to harass a debtor. He was sentenced to a total of nine months in jail and five strokes of the can for the two offences. But a court clerk wrongly recorded the sentence and added three more strokes to the punishment when he was preparing the paperwork for Tan’s commitment to prison.

Dickson had found out about the mistake on the day he entered prison, and had told his family about it. Despite various attempts to correct the mistake, hoping that the caning would be postponed till the mistake has been clarify, but he still received eight strokes on March 29.

The government last night said it regrets the error, and is ready and willing to settle the matter. However, it rejected the $3 million sum asked by the prisoner’s family. The case was referred for mediation, but the family did not go forward with it, partly because they were told they had to pay $2,000 in fees, which the family could not afford. Now, the family is willing to settle for $300,000 instead of the $3 million she has earlier demanded for the error of 3 extra strokes the government has admitted.

In a joint statement, the Ministry of Law and Ministry of Home Affairs, said that steps have been taken to ensure the mistake will not happen again.

Will you settle 3 extra strokes for just $300K or rather have the court clerk & the prison officer to get 3 strokes each?