Woman Begs For Mercy Upon Hearing That She May Be Fined $21,000, Judge Stands Down Case Twice
The authorities take ‘Circuit Breaker’ rules very seriously, as evidenced by the heavy punishments that have been meted out so far to rule breakers.
That’s why a 55-year-old woman, charged on 29 Apr for flouting ‘Circuit Breaker’ rules, would be expected to face a similar stiff punishment for allegedly allowing a customer into her salon and giving him a massage, complete with masturbation services.
However, when she appeared in court on Wednesday (13 May), her guilty plea was rejected by the judge as she could not stop erupting into tears, reported Channel NewsAsia (CNA).
Woman allowed customer into salon for massage
The woman, Jin Yin, was accused of providing massage services to a 67-year-old man at a beauty salon in Blk 34 Upper Cross Street on 10 Apr.
As the ‘Circuit Breaker’ had started on 7 Apr, this was against the rules.
She allegedly charged him $150 for the massage and masturbation, which lasted around 1.5 hours, reported TODAY.
For that, she faces one charge under the Covid-19 (Temporary Measures) (Control Order) Regulations 2020, for keeping the premises open.
That means she can be fined up to $10,000, jailed for up to six months, or both.
She advertised unlicensed massage services
Additionally, Jin allegedly posted an advertisement for massage services on online classifieds site Locanto, even though she had no such licence, reported The Straits Times.
Thus, she also faces two other charges under the Massage Establishments Act — operating a massage business that’s unlicensed, and advertising it.
For each of these charges, she can be fined up to $10,000, jailed for up to two years, or both.
Cried hysterically in court, till judge rejected guilty plea
During her trial in court on Wednesday (13 May), the drama started when Jin heard that she might be fined $21,000 as a result of the charges.
The woman fell to her knees and begged Judge Ong Hian Sun, saying that she did not have enough to pay the fine.
Throughout the trial, she sobbed and cried hysterically, despite the interpreter and several security officers attempting to console her.
The hearing was at the State Courts.
Source
The hysterics prompted the judge to stand down the case twice for Jin to calm herself down.
However, she was unable to do so, and kept sobbing.
Eventually, the judge deemed that she was not in the right state of mind to plead guilty, and rejected her plea.
In debt after paying mother’s cancer treatment, daughter to raise
In court, Jin related a tale of woe, saying that she only had $3,000 left after borrowing money to pay for her mother’s cancer treatment. Her mother has since passed away.
She had committed the offences as she needed to earn money to pay off these debts, she had previously said.
She also has a daughter in Beijing to raise, she added.
Jail term in lieu of fine also elicits tears
Jin Yin was also told that she could serve a jail term instead, if she could not pay the fine.
When she asked how long the jail term would be, Judge Ong did not give her an answer — this is because sentencing decisions are usually made after the conviction.
To that, Jin then started crying loudly again, asking, “What about my daughter?”.
She was given a chair so she could sit down.
She will return to court later this month
Judge Ong has adjourned the case to a pre-trial conference for later this month.
While many might be sympathetic to Jin’s troubles, flouting ‘Circuit Breaker’ rules must be taken very seriously, as they have an impact on public health amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
Hopefully, she manages to maintain her composure when she returns to court.
Featured image adapted from Google Maps.
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