ipoh-horfun
Well-Known Member
SINGAPORE - An unemployed man accused of armed robbery at Marina Bay Sands (MBS) was given a discharge not amounting to an acquittal by a district court yesterday.
Granting the discharge, District Judge Eddy Tham said there was no improper motive on the part of the prosecution.
Octavius Tok Tien Howe, 37, had been charged earlier this year with robbing managing director Gay Choon Hooi, 46, of S$450,000 on April 14.
Tok had been accused of committing the offence with an alleged accomplice, Neo Ek Khiang, while armed with a knife in a hotel room.
Neo is still at large. Last week, the prosecution had said it could not proceed because of this when it made the application for discharge.
Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Wong Kok Weng told the district judge yesterday that the hotel room where the alleged crime had taken place was booked under Neo's name.
Neo left Singapore shortly after Mr Gay purportedly escaped from the room. DPP Wong added that Interpol had been alerted.
Tok's lawyer, Mr Subhas Anandan, told the court that he only received on Monday the first information report filed about the alleged robbery when he had been trying to get it since May
Mr Anandan said he found discrepancies between the report Mr Gay made and the charge Tok faced.
Mr Gay said in his report he had been kidnapped by one person and the report made no mention of any weapons.
However, Tok had been charged with armed robbery and had allegedly committed the offence with an accomplice.
The case will be reviewed on March 28 next year in a district court.
In June, the High Court had ordered Tok to pay his S$619,000 bill at MBS for a 23-day stay there.
It is believed that he had racked up these expenses between March and April just days before the alleged robbery.
Speaking to reporters later about having to pay the hotel bill, Tok said applications will be made to set aside this judgment as it had been made while he was in remand and could not defend himself.
Granting the discharge, District Judge Eddy Tham said there was no improper motive on the part of the prosecution.
Octavius Tok Tien Howe, 37, had been charged earlier this year with robbing managing director Gay Choon Hooi, 46, of S$450,000 on April 14.
Tok had been accused of committing the offence with an alleged accomplice, Neo Ek Khiang, while armed with a knife in a hotel room.
Neo is still at large. Last week, the prosecution had said it could not proceed because of this when it made the application for discharge.
Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Wong Kok Weng told the district judge yesterday that the hotel room where the alleged crime had taken place was booked under Neo's name.
Neo left Singapore shortly after Mr Gay purportedly escaped from the room. DPP Wong added that Interpol had been alerted.
Tok's lawyer, Mr Subhas Anandan, told the court that he only received on Monday the first information report filed about the alleged robbery when he had been trying to get it since May
Mr Anandan said he found discrepancies between the report Mr Gay made and the charge Tok faced.
Mr Gay said in his report he had been kidnapped by one person and the report made no mention of any weapons.
However, Tok had been charged with armed robbery and had allegedly committed the offence with an accomplice.
The case will be reviewed on March 28 next year in a district court.
In June, the High Court had ordered Tok to pay his S$619,000 bill at MBS for a 23-day stay there.
It is believed that he had racked up these expenses between March and April just days before the alleged robbery.
Speaking to reporters later about having to pay the hotel bill, Tok said applications will be made to set aside this judgment as it had been made while he was in remand and could not defend himself.
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