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SINGAPORE: Six years after he was sentenced to 20 years in prison for wrongful death by setting his former lover on fire and killing her, a man tried to have his case reviewed, calling the sentence excessive and alleging errors were made in the trial .
However, on Monday (October 19) the Court of Appeals dismissed the application of Lim Ghim Peow, who is in his early 50s, saying it was “totally devoid of merit.”
Issuing the decision on behalf of a three-judge panel, Appellate Judge Andrew Phang said the request “is nothing more than an attempt by the applicant to mount an appeal ‘through the back door’ in violation of both the spirit and the substance of the review process “. .
Lim, who pleaded guilty and was sentenced in January 2014 on a wrongful death charge that does not amount to murder, said “nonsense” while listening to the trial and wanted to speak after the verdict was rendered, but was not allowed to do so. .
He had been convicted of carrying out “a very cruel and ruthless attack” against Mary Yoong Mei Ling, 43, at her Sengkang apartment in May 2012, dousing her with gasoline and setting her on fire, after she refused to return. to be together. with the.
Lim intended to commit suicide after killing her, and was later diagnosed with major depressive disorder and had been abusing methamphetamine.
The victim was engulfed in flames and died after suffering burns to 75 percent of his body.
After being sentenced in January 2014, Lim appealed against his sentence in July 2014, but the Court of Appeal dismissed it. Lim was represented by attorneys Sunil Sudheesan, Diana Ngiam, and the late Subhas Anandan at various stages of his case.
Lim sent a letter in September 2017 to the Court of Appeal requesting an appeal or “reappeal” of his judgment and verdict, alleging that the prosecution had inaccurately processed him, that he did not obtain an adequate and effective defense, and that the sentence was “unfair and unfair”.
The Supreme Court legal record responded to Lim in October 2017 to tell him that the Court of Appeal had already heard his appeal in 2014 and that there was no further right of appeal.
Lim filed a request in March of this year asking for his case to be heard again, claiming that the sentence was “too excessive” and that the High Court “had made mistakes in its judgment.”
These grounds “clearly do not meet the threshold for review,” Judge Phang said Monday, adding that Lim had not been granted a license or permission to even make a request for review.
Referring to the allegations made by Lim in his attempted review, the judge said they were “nothing more than mere assertions without support of any evidence.”
“For the record, we would also emphasize that applicants will not go very far by making such unwarranted accusations many years after the proceedings are concluded, if they do not have a solid foundation based on relevant evidence,” Judge Phang said.
