SINGAPORE - The apex court made a rare ruling to grant judicial mercy to a woman with terminal cancer when it converted her jail term of one week for contempt for court to a $5,000 fine.
Lawyer Dorothy Tan explained that in cases where judicial mercy is granted, the consideration of humanitarian reasons, such as terminal illness, overrides the need to make the appropriate sentencing measures befit the crime. He cited an earlier judgment of Family Justice Courts Presiding Judge Debbie Ong, who noted the children used to have a loving relationship with their father. But the mother had"relentlessly polarised them against their father to such an extent that any repair of the relationship was not practically feasible".
The man took his former wife to task for contempt of court for breaching court orders. These included getting both parents to not make disparaging remarks about the other parent to the children, and not involve the children in the divorce litigation, such as showing or discussing with them any court documents or correspondences related to the case.
Justice Ong found that the woman had intentionally breached the court orders not to disclose to the children information relating to the case in court.In his grounds of decision, Judge Phang said:"Having considered the facts and the evidence as a whole, we found that the appellant had deliberately acted in order to prejudice and harm the husband's reputation, as well as to drive a wedge in the relationship between him and the children.
Mr Ushan told The Straits Times the mother is grateful for the court's show of judicial mercy and she is currently undergoing medical treatment.