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Why instances of accused persons jumping bail persist, despite tougher laws

SINGAPORE — In the widely-publicised Orchard Towers murder case, one of the accused, 22-year-old Tan Hong Sheng, jumped bail and failed to attend court. That was on Aug 29.

SINGAPORE — In the widely-publicised Orchard Towers murder case, one of the accused, 22-year-old Tan Hong Sheng, jumped bail and failed to attend court. That was on Aug 29.

Barely three weeks later another accused, Visvanathan Vadivelu, fled the State Courts when it took a break during his hearing for armed robbery and drug-related offences.

The following week, yet another accused absconded while he and his mother were waiting for a taxi to go to the State Courts. Muhammad Nadhir Kadir Maideen, who was due to plead guilty to more than a dozen criminal charges, had told his mother that he needed to go to the toilet.

Lawyers whom TODAY spoke to said they have handled several cases where their clients jumped bail this year. This is despite changes to the law in October last year that made it a criminal offence, punishable by up to three years’ jail, if an accused absconds or breaches a bail condition.

One of the lawyers, Mr Amarick Gill, has seen seven of his clients abscond this year, up from two last year.

He has also seen cases where bailors have had to serve time because they did not have the means to pay the bail amount after the accused fled.

“When offenders jump bail, bailors go through a difficult time. Once you become a bailor, if it requires you to physically bring the offender to court, you do it,” said the director of law firm Amarick Gill LLC.

Mr Gill said that when an offender jumps bail, it is not the lawyer’s responsibility to ensure the offender turns up in court.

“Lawyers are not babysitters, that’s what the bailor is for. The most we can do is call (the accused) up,” he said.

That was what senior associate Cory Wong from Invictus Law Corporation did when his client, the Orchard Towers case suspect Tan, jumped bail.

But the calls were unsuccessful. Tan was not even at home the night before the court hearing.

Bail was subsequently revoked for Tan after it was mentioned in court that he had allegedly committed a fresh offence of rioting while on court bail. Thereafter, he failed to attend court after knowing that the police were looking for him.

REASONS FOR JUMPING BAIL

Court statistics show that the number of absconders jumping bail has remained stable in the last four years, from 111 in 2015 to 117 in 2018.

The reasons accused persons jumped bail ranged from fear to oversleeping.

Lawyer Ramesh Tiwary recalled one case where the accused came to court and was supposed to plead guilty.

“He stayed in court for a while and watched the proceedings. Then I think he became frightened and panicked. He told his bailor he was going to the toilet and disappeared,” he said.

Even the accused’s family and friends who were present in court did not realise he had run off, Mr Tiwary added.

Ms Syazana Yahya, a partner at law firm Eugene Thuraisingam LLP, said that she had clients who overslept or genuinely forgot about a court date.

“If it is an honest mistake, the accused person will rush down to court after they get our call,” she said.

In some instances, lawyers may be able to get the court clerk to schedule the accused’s hearing further back to give him some time to arrive.

Ms Syazana recalled an incident where her client had forgotten a court date and a warrant of arrest was issued.

“When the client arrived, we had to make an application for the warrant of arrest to be cancelled, explaining that this was a genuine oversight,” she said.

EFFORTS TO CURB BAIL VIOLATIONS

To prevent these incidents from happening, Ms Syazana drops her clients reminders several days before their court dates.

Anecdotally, she said that her clients are generally more aware about the consequences of jumping bail.

In October 2018, amendments were made to the Criminal Justice Reform Act, making it a criminal offence if an accused absconds or breaches a bail condition. It carries a maximum jail term of three years, a fine or both.

Judges can also order electronic tagging of accused persons as a condition for bail to act as a form of surveillance.

Associate director at Quahe Woo & Palmer LLC Diana Ngiam said the court has been more stringent in granting bail and specifying the bail conditions to “ensure more oversight over an accused person”, especially if the accused is deemed to have little or no roots in Singapore and is a flight risk.

WHEN AN ACCUSED ABSCONDS...

But when an accused insists on jumping bail, Mr Tiwary said that he would try to contact them and leave messages to ask them to surrender.

On several occasions, his effort paid off when clients surrender after being told that their bailors have to forfeit the sum they put up for bail. This is especially when the bailors are their parents.

In the recent cases, Visvanathan, Nadhir and Tan were all bailed out by their mothers.

Mr Gill said: “Most bailors are parents who cannot see their children in remand. But the bailor has a choice. The bailor must be able to trust the accused to bail him out.”

He acknowledged that this may a predicament to many, especially when the accused is a family member. But he stressed that the responsibilities of a bailor should not be taken lightly and advised prospective bailors to exercise caution when taking up the role.

Agreeing, lawyer Shashi Nathan said parents acting as bailor could only be a deterrent to some.

“For some, they would think about a family member losing money if they are not on their best behaviour, but this is not the mindset everyone has,” he said.

… IT’S THE BAILOR WHO PAYS THE PRICE

The court considers many factors when determining bail amounts and conditions, and they include the nature and gravity of the offences, the accused’s character, financial means and standing.

Mr Gill said bail amounts for offenders charged with minor offences usually do not exceed S$15,000. In such cases, bailors can pledge their personal property, such as jewellery, that have been fully paid for.

If the accused absconds and the bailor cannot pay the bail amount, the court could auction away the bailor’s personal property to raise the funds, said Mr Gill.

For bail amounts that exceed S$15,000, bailors have to provide security in the form of cash or fixed deposits. The sum will be frozen to prevent the bailor from using it.

For severe offences such as drug trafficking and criminal breach of trust which amounts to millions of dollars, the court may propose the bail amount to be more than S$100,000.

This was the case for those involved in the City Harvest Church case as their financial status at that time was taken into consideration, said Ms Syazana.

Related topics

bail court crime orchard towers Criminal Justice Reform Act

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