SINGAPORE — A 60-year-old man was sentenced to five months’ jail on Thursday (Oct 27) for trying to sneak contraband items to his brother who was behind bars in Changi Prison.

Abdul Khaliq Mohammed Shan, who previously served jail time himself, pleaded guilty to a charge under the Prisons Act of attempting to introduce unauthorised articles into the prison complex.

The court heard that on Jan 19 this year, Abdul Khaliq handed over three magazines at a Prison Link Centre's service counter.

The magazines with the titles Augustman, Her World and Female Singapore were tagged to his brother Mohammed Shariff Mohammed Shan, who was an inmate in Cluster B at Changi Prison. Court documents did not state if Mohammad Shariff is still in prison. 

An officer at the Prison Link Centre scanned the magazines with a handheld metal detector and discovered 32 sewing needles hidden between the magazines’ pages.

The officer’s job is to censor reading materials from visitors before they are handed over to inmates.

After a Changi Prison officer filed a police report, Abdul Khaliq claimed during investigations that an unknown man had gone to his house a few days earlier and sought his help to pass the magazines to his brother.

Abdul Khaliq also claimed that he did not know this man’s name, had never seen him before and did not have his contact details.

Court documents did not state what the purpose of the needles was.

Abdul Khaliq was later admitted to the Drug Rehabilitation Centre on April 20. His tentative date of discharge is in April 2025.

He was also ordered to serve another 88 days of imprisonment because he breached a remission order that was in effect from April last year to August this year.

Prisoners who show good conduct are allowed to be released after serving two-thirds of their sentence. They will then be issued with a conditional remission order.

Court documents did not state the offence for which he was previously jailed.

For this current offence, he could have been jailed up to 12 months or fined up to S$3,000, or punished with both.