ANG BOON HAN v PUBLIC PROSECUTOR

Case Significance

Ang Boon Han v Public Prosecutor [2024] SGHC 221 was decided by Sundaresh Menon CJ in the General Division of the High Court, heard on 15 May 2024 and decided on 30 August 2024, in Magistrate's Appeal No 9181 of 2023. The case concerned sentencing for voluntarily causing hurt which causes grievous hurt under s 323A of the Penal Code (Cap 224, 2008 Rev Ed). The appellant, Mr Ang Boon Han, pleaded guilty to and was convicted of a charge under s 323A for voluntarily causing hurt with the intention to cause hurt that was not grievous but which actually caused grievous hurt, and was sentenced to eight weeks' imprisonment, as recorded in Public Prosecutor v Ang Boon Han [2023] SGMC 82.

The appellant appealed against the sentence on the basis that it was manifestly excessive and contended that the District Judge had erred in relying on the sentencing framework set out in Public Prosecutor v Loi Chye Heng [2021] SGDC 90. Faced with the prospect of developing a sentencing framework for an offence under s 323A of the Penal Code, the court appointed a Young Independent Counsel, Mr Tan Jun Hong, to assist with the appeal. Having considered the submissions of the parties and Mr Tan, Sundaresh Menon CJ dismissed the appeal and furnished detailed grounds setting out the approach that might guide the lower courts. The appellant was represented by counsel including Ashwin Ganapathy and Azri Imran Tan from I.R.B. Law LLP and Ramesh Tiwary, the respondent was represented by Norine Tan and Timothy Lee of the Attorney-General's Chambers, and Mr Tan Jun Hong appeared as Young Independent Counsel from JFN Chambers LLC.