Drunk woman was allegedly sexually assaulted by man who offered her ride home; co-accused gets jail

SINGAPORE: Two women who were “very drunk” were unable to get rides home because of their intoxication.

When a man came by and offered them a ride home, they accepted, but one of them wound up being allegedly sexually assaulted.

The victim was also molested by the man’s friend and co-accused, 35-year-old Singaporean Lee Kit.

Lee was sentenced to 20 months’ jail and four strokes of the cane on Mar 18.

The location of the offence and the names of the women are protected by gag order. The alleged offender was not named in a judgment made available on Saturday.

According to the judgment, Lee had accompanied his co-accused, to “chill” on the evening of Jan 30, 2021.

Lee bought beer for himself before meeting his friend at 10.45pm at a shop. There, the friend told Lee that he wanted to approach two “very drunk” women who were in the shop.

THEY FOLLOWED THE WOMEN

When the women left, showing visible signs of intoxication, Lee and his friend followed them.

Lee observed that the women were “quite drunk” based on their gait and demeanour, while his friend commented that the victim was “pretty and seemed drunk”, the judgment stated.

The two men followed the two women through an underpass and loitered nearby when the women went to a public restroom. They continued tailing the women until they reached a bus stop, where the women tried unsuccessfully to hail a taxi or book a private-hire car.

Several drivers refused to pick them up owing to their drunken condition, the judge said.

Lee’s friend then retrieved his car and parked it just behind the bus stop. The two men approached the women and convinced them to let the men take them back to the victim’s condominium.

Lee’s friend drove the four of them to the victim’s condo, with the women vomiting during the journey.

At the victim’s apartment, Lee used the toilet and washed his hands. When he came out, he allegedly saw his co-accused sexually assaulting the victim.

The victim was passing in and out of consciousness while her friend lay unconscious beside her, Lee said.

Lee said his friend beckoned for Lee to join him before ceasing the assault and kissing the victim.

Lee then molested the victim and heard her groan “no”. Lee stopped his actions after a few seconds and left his friend in the bedroom with the two women.

Lee then waited for his friend in the car park before they drove off together.

During the drive, the two men were concerned that they might get into trouble with the police, the court heard. They also made callous and lewd remarks about the victim.

However, Lee’s friend soon realised he had left his phone in the victim’s apartment. They returned and tried to get it back, fearing identification, but failed.

The victim had called the police and the two men were arrested at the condominium.

Lee was initially charged with sexual assault involving penetration but the charge was reduced to molestation on condition of a plea of guilt.

Lee’s lawyers, Mr Shashi Nathan and Mr Jeremy Pereira of WithersKhattarWong, said Lee is likely to be a prosecution witness against his friend.

JUDGE’S COMMENTS

District Judge Justin Yeo said the degree of sexual exploitation in Lee’s case was very high, and that the victim was in a vulnerable state.

He added that the offence was part of a “group sexual assault” and took place in the victim’s home, where one ought to feel safe.

The offence, committed in conjunction with the co-accused’s alleged sexual assault, resulted in the victim being diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.

“She has struggled with nightmares and flashbacks of the incident, her relationships with her daughter and friends were affected, and she has had to take time off work,” said Judge Yeo.

He did not grant weight to the prosecution’s argument that the offence was highly premeditated.

The defence had contested this strongly, arguing that the co-accused had taken the lead and that Lee had played a passive role, following along “reluctantly”.

Judge Yeo said he was unable to arrive at any firm conclusions on premeditation as the prosecution did not dispute Lee’s account.

However, this does not mean Lee merely played a passive role, or that the offence was committed in a fleeting moment of folly, said the judge.

“Even on the accused’s own account, he had followed the inebriated women around for a substantial period of time, travelled together with the co-accused and the women to the victim’s condominium, and entered the victim’s apartment and bedroom,” said the judge.

In Lee’s mitigation plea, he claimed that the co-accused told him that the victim was not wearing underwear and had shown him “cheeky” expressions during the car journey and in the lift to her apartment.

“All of these undermine the defence’s submission that the accused had merely played a passive role or committed the offence in a fleeting moment of folly,” said the judge.