Judge who approved extra strokes relieved of some duties

The district judge who approved three more strokes of the cane than what a prisoner was meant to receive will be removed from certain judicial duties. He will no longer be allowed to do judicial work involving Warrants of Commitment.

The Warrant, which notifies the Prisons Department of the sentence meted out on an offender, was what originally landed the judge in trouble.

Convicted offender Dickson Tan Yong Wen, 20, had been sentenced to nine months' jail and five strokes of the cane for abetting an illegal moneylender. But a court clerk preparing his Warrant mistakenly put down eight strokes.

The district judge signed the Warrant without spotting the error, and Tan ended up being caned eight times. The Warrants of Commitment will now be checked twice at both levels - by another court clerk and a second district judge.

The courts are also looking into automating the process of preparation of Warrants with built-in checks to guard against errors.