Monday, August 27, 2007
Current affairs article #5
Aug 15, 2007, The Straits Times
JUDGE TO YOUNG OFFENDERS:
Don't expect to get just probation
Warning issued as he sends 2 teen robbers to reform training centre
By Chong Chee Kin
YOUTH who run afoul of the law - even for the first time - should not expect to be given probation as a matter of course simply because of their tender age.
Justice V.K. Rajah yesterday put such wayward young people on notice that they could well be sent behind bars for crimes of 'gratuitous violence' or if they prey on the vulnerable.
His comments came as he gave his reasons for allowing an appeal by the prosecution against a pair of teen robbers - he overturned probation orders handed out in April on the two of them and packed them off for reformative training instead.
He said that the court would be remiss in its duty if, regardless of the kind of criminal offences committed, it sentenced young offenders to probation and signalled to prospective offenders that probation would 'almost inevitably' be all the punishment they can expect.
Offenders sentenced to probation are allowed to stay at home but under strict terms that include a curfew and attendance at counselling.
A step up from probation is a stint in a reformative training centre, where offenders are confined for between 18 months and three years and put through a regimen of foot drills, counselling, education and vocational training.
SERIOUS OFFENCES
'I simply cannot paper over these offences and lightly dismiss them simply as isolated youthful indiscretions...They were coldly calculated, carefully schemed and calmly executed.' - JUSTICE V.K. RAJAH, on the acts of two teen gang members, who had helped their gang prey on Geylang prostitutes. He overturned their probation orders and packed them off for reformative training.
Rehabilitative efforts conducted in such a 'more structured environment' will benefit the young offender and send an 'unequivocal sign' that the courts take an uncompromising view of crimes involving violence, said the judge.
The pair whose cases came before the court yesterday were Mohammad Al-Ansari Basri, 17, and Yusry Shah Jamal, 18, members of a gang of robbers who preyed on Geylang prostitutes.
On Aug 12 last year, Ansari and the gang picked up a 36-year-old foreign prostitute along Geylang Lorong 34, and drove to a quiet corner of Tampines, where one of the gang raped her.
Ansari got rid of her shoes and then passed her handbag to his accomplices. He also stood by while his accomplices assaulted the woman.
His share of the spoils: a pack of cigarettes and food, paid for with the money - over $600 - stolen from the woman.
Yusry played a similar role about four months earlier, helping the gang rob a 26-year-old foreign prostitute, who was also raped.
The other gang members will soon be dealt with on rape and robbery charges.
Justice Rajah said the courts were generally in favour of rehabilitating youthful offenders by putting them on probation, but it did not mean the courts should ignore the 'overriding consideration' of protecting the community.
He added that though the pair were not prime movers in the two cases, they were 'willing and conscious participants'.
A rehabilitative approach is the focus of the Community Court, set up last June to deal with cases involving offenders between 16 and 18, among others.
One of the court's major successes has been with youth offenders. In its first seven months of operation, youth offenders made up more than half of the cases handled and about 70 per cent of them were put on probation.
But probation should not be automatic, said lawyers who welcomed Justice Rajah's stand. Describing it as sensible, Mr Anand Nalachandran, said: 'Young people who commit an offence cannot expect to be put on probation automatically just because they are young.'
JUDGE TO YOUNG OFFENDERS:
Don't expect to get just probation
Warning issued as he sends 2 teen robbers to reform training centre
By Chong Chee Kin
YOUTH who run afoul of the law - even for the first time - should not expect to be given probation as a matter of course simply because of their tender age.
Justice V.K. Rajah yesterday put such wayward young people on notice that they could well be sent behind bars for crimes of 'gratuitous violence' or if they prey on the vulnerable.
His comments came as he gave his reasons for allowing an appeal by the prosecution against a pair of teen robbers - he overturned probation orders handed out in April on the two of them and packed them off for reformative training instead.
He said that the court would be remiss in its duty if, regardless of the kind of criminal offences committed, it sentenced young offenders to probation and signalled to prospective offenders that probation would 'almost inevitably' be all the punishment they can expect.
Offenders sentenced to probation are allowed to stay at home but under strict terms that include a curfew and attendance at counselling.
A step up from probation is a stint in a reformative training centre, where offenders are confined for between 18 months and three years and put through a regimen of foot drills, counselling, education and vocational training.
SERIOUS OFFENCES
'I simply cannot paper over these offences and lightly dismiss them simply as isolated youthful indiscretions...They were coldly calculated, carefully schemed and calmly executed.' - JUSTICE V.K. RAJAH, on the acts of two teen gang members, who had helped their gang prey on Geylang prostitutes. He overturned their probation orders and packed them off for reformative training.
Rehabilitative efforts conducted in such a 'more structured environment' will benefit the young offender and send an 'unequivocal sign' that the courts take an uncompromising view of crimes involving violence, said the judge.
The pair whose cases came before the court yesterday were Mohammad Al-Ansari Basri, 17, and Yusry Shah Jamal, 18, members of a gang of robbers who preyed on Geylang prostitutes.
On Aug 12 last year, Ansari and the gang picked up a 36-year-old foreign prostitute along Geylang Lorong 34, and drove to a quiet corner of Tampines, where one of the gang raped her.
Ansari got rid of her shoes and then passed her handbag to his accomplices. He also stood by while his accomplices assaulted the woman.
His share of the spoils: a pack of cigarettes and food, paid for with the money - over $600 - stolen from the woman.
Yusry played a similar role about four months earlier, helping the gang rob a 26-year-old foreign prostitute, who was also raped.
The other gang members will soon be dealt with on rape and robbery charges.
Justice Rajah said the courts were generally in favour of rehabilitating youthful offenders by putting them on probation, but it did not mean the courts should ignore the 'overriding consideration' of protecting the community.
He added that though the pair were not prime movers in the two cases, they were 'willing and conscious participants'.
A rehabilitative approach is the focus of the Community Court, set up last June to deal with cases involving offenders between 16 and 18, among others.
One of the court's major successes has been with youth offenders. In its first seven months of operation, youth offenders made up more than half of the cases handled and about 70 per cent of them were put on probation.
But probation should not be automatic, said lawyers who welcomed Justice Rajah's stand. Describing it as sensible, Mr Anand Nalachandran, said: 'Young people who commit an offence cannot expect to be put on probation automatically just because they are young.'
# posted by Kris @ 5:11 AM 
