By 
The police officer who handled the Suntec City brawl incident in 2010 has been charged with neglect of duty.
Second Minister for Home Affairs, and Trade and Industry S Iswaran said the Singapore Police Force (SPF) has completed its internal inquiry, and charged the investigation
officer who handled the case with negligence. A letter of warning has
also been issued to his supervisor, S Iswaran informed the House during
Tuesday's Parliament.
“I would also point out that the lapse was
due to the error of an individual rather than to any systematic
shortcomings,” S Iswaran said, answering Member of Parliament (MP) Tin Pei Ling’s question for an update on the police inquiry.
This
is after two of the three expatriates -- options brokers New Zealander
Robert Stephen Dahlberg and Briton Robert James Springall – absconded
while on bail after they were charged with assault in July 2010. A third
man, Australian business development manager Nathan Robert Miller, 35,
pleaded guilty and was sentenced to three weeks’ jail in February this
year.
The trio were allegedly drunk when they attacked two taxi
drivers and two taxi passengers and hijacked and crashed a taxi in April
2010, reported AsiaOne.
Dahlberg allegedly caused hurt to businessman Laurence Wong Seong and
shoved Paul Louis Liew Kai Ming against a pillar, who sustained a
forehead gash and a broken nose. Miller had also allegedly punched cabby
Tay Gek Heng in the face during the incident.
While Miller served time, his friends Dahlberg, 34, and Springall, 25, were allowed to leave Singapore after they were charged.
Dahlberg
was out on bail for S$25,000 last July when he went on trips to London
and Hong Kong and did not return. Springall, travelled back to the
United Kingdom between August and September on a bail of $12,000. After
returning from his trip, Springall failed to surrender his passport to
the authorities and flew out of Singapore in December 2011 and
absconded.
Both men jumped bail and warrants of arrest have been issued to the police’s overseas counterparts and the Interpol.
In
light of the incident, MP David Ong asked during Parliament whether the
Penal Code and other criminal legislation are sufficiently adequate to
protect Singaporeans from offences and crimes committed by foreigners
against them.
In response, S Iswaran said that all accused
persons and victims are treated equally under Singapore law, whether
they are Singaporeans or foreigners.
“When setting bail
conditions, the police and the courts take a variety of factors into
account to assess the flight risk of the accused. These include the
gravity of the offence, the extent of the accused person’s roots in
Singapore and whether the person have attempted to abscond previously,” S
Iswaran said.
Iswaran also explained that when a person
absconds, the bail is forfeited and the police will arrest the wanted
person if he is still in Singapore. In the event that the accused person
flees overseas, the police may issue an Interpol Red Notice.
Police
forces in the Interpol member states will then help to locate and
arrest the accused person and may extradite the person back to
Singapore.
Tin also asked if further the impounding of passports
should be made a standard operating procedure in cases as it "would
ensure that when the courts need them or when judgment is made, they are
in Singapore to receive the judgment".
Responding to Tin, Iswaran said, "This is really a decision that we should leave to the courts and not make it mandatory, because there are so many considerations here. The nature of the crime, the gravity of the impact, the nature of the individuals' own ties to Singapore."
"And I think most importantly and fundamentally, we have to strike that balance between his or her right to freedom to move before he or she is judged or found to be guilty," he added.
