Man who threatened PM Lee via Facebook gets 15 months’ jail
A man is silhouetted against a video screen with a Facebook logo. Photo: Reuters
SINGAPORE — A 33-year-old man who sent Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong threatening messages on Facebook was sentenced to 15 months’ jail today (Dec 9), with the judge noting that a period of incarceration, coupled with psychiatric treatment, was necessary to stabilise Tan Yeong Hong’s mental condition.
Tan’s lawyers had appealed to the court to take an empathetic stance, given his condition of paranoid schizophrenia, which was undiagnosed when he committed the offences. Prosecutors, however, said Tan was a dangerous offender with a history of sudden violent outbursts and a weapon stash at home.
After reviewing an Institute of Mental Health (IMH) report on Tan, District Judge Mathew Joseph decided that a custodial sentence was needed, as “it’s quite clear (Tan) needs psychiatric help and stabilisation before (he) gets released to society at large”.
In June, Tan went to the Prime Minister’s Meet-the-People session (MPS) in Ang Mo Kio to pass him a document.
Upset that Mr Lee was not present, Tan used his mobile phone to send four identical private messages to Mr Lee’s Facebook account later that night.
He told the court he was prompted to do so by someone with a hidden audio and surveillance device in his house.
The messages, which included his NRIC number and contact details, read: “Eh, you challenged me to visit your (MPS) but you are not here. I will find and stage an attack on you when I have information on your public appearances. You know who I am...”
The following day, two police officers approached Tan near his house to investigate the threatening messages, and ended up being assaulted by him.
Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Andre Chong called for a sentence of 18 to 23 months for Tan’s acts of criminal intimidation and voluntarily causing hurt.
The psychiatric reports tendered stated that Tan had untreated paranoid schizophrenia, and DPP Chong argued that the accused posed a continuing danger to his family and the public.
His parents had even sought Personal Protection Orders against him, although his mother later withdrew her application, he added.
Defence lawyer Alice Tan, however, pleaded for a sentence of less than 11 months, assuring the court that Tan would continue outpatient treatment at IMH for “as long as it is required” after his release from prison.
“Tan’s case deserves our empathy as his mental condition had remained undiagnosed and untreated for a very long prodromal period,” she said.
Two prior visits to IMH doctors in 1999 and 2006 drew a blank, and he was simply diagnosed with conduct disorder, with no medication prescribed.
Ms Tan added that her client was not a dangerous offender, even though he had brought a hammer to Mr Lee’s MPS and carried knives around. The lawyer said Tan carried these items as a way to protect himself.
But the judge ruled that 15 months’ jail was an appropriate duration for Tan to get psychiatric help and be stabilised. Tan’s sentence will be backdated to the start of his remand on June 27.
