Man who terrorised sisters over 6 years has appeal thrown out

SINGAPORE — Over more than six years, he terrorised a pair of sisters in three episodes, getting bolder each time to the extent that he stalked them and threatened to rape and murder the elder girl.

But Tan Yao Min, 21, argued that an 18-month jail sentence imposed on him was manifestly excessive, claiming that he was remorseful, even if he could not control his “urges” to approach the sisters.

A High Court judge rubbished Tan’s claims in judgment grounds released publicly on Tuesday (Dec 12), and castigated him for being a recalcitrant who had refused to learn his lesson despite having been given chances for similar offences he had committed against the sisters twice in the past.

Justice See Kee Oon added that although Tan has autistic spectrum disorder and suffers from immature personality, these were not found to have contributed to his offending acts and were insufficient to detract from the primary sentencing objectives of deterring him from reoffending and protection of the public.

Not only did Tan inflict “severe trauma and distress ... upon the hapless sisters” — who cannot be named to protect their identities — he clearly caused alarm to their next-of-kin as well, added Justice See.

Court documents show that Tan stalked the sisters, now aged 18 and 14, and threatened to rape and kill the elder in handwritten letters he dropped in mailboxes of their relatives.

Among other things, a letter he left on Jan 12 this year said that he wanted to force pregnancy on the 18-year-old to make her “suffer in pain”, and to “kill her”. He also wrote that he had “lost everything” and found life “meaningless”, and asked to be reported to the police.

Tan was arrested the following day but after he was released on bail, he struck again.

On Feb 20, he wrote in a letter for the sisters’ 73-year-old grandmother that he thinks of having sex with the younger girl, and was willing to pay. He also said wants to have a threesome with the siblings and “can do it everyday to prove that I am a man”.

Tan also stalked the sisters, including waiting for the younger girl at a bench near her home and sending her an invite to be friends on Facebook.

Tan was convicted of three of six charges proceeded with — criminal intimidation, intentionally causing alarm and unlawful stalking.

These acts fell within a third episode where Tan had terrorised the sisters.

In 2011, he scrawled on a wall outside their unit saying he wanted to have sex with the younger girl, who was then eight years old. He also chained up their gate with a bicycle lock.

For this and other similar acts against other young girls, Tan was sent to a juvenile home for 30 months until end-2013.

Less than two years later, in March 2015, Tan placed five notes with insulting messages and threats of “consequences” at the girls’ home. He was sentenced to 15 months’ supervised probation.

Describing Tan’s latest offences as an “alarming escalation”, Justice See noted in his grounds of decision: “Evidently, he had managed to complete his terms in the juvenile home and probation and was capable of controlling his professed ‘urges’, but was unwilling to glean insight into his offending conduct.”

Tan, who was unrepresented, could have been jailed for seven years or more for criminal intimidation. The maximum punishment for stalking is a S$5,000 fine and 12 months’ jail; and for intentionally causing alarm, a S$5,000 fine and six months’ jail.