Woman hires lawyer after getting slapped with 1-week jail for lying to get her daughter into top school

SINGAPORE: Last week, a woman made the news after a judge gave her a one-week jail sentence for lying about her address in order to get her daughter enrolled in a popular primary school.

This week, she made the news again. Having previously claimed that she could not afford a lawyer, a report in CNA says she now has legal representation.

In September, the woman had pleaded guilty to one charge of giving false information to public servants and another for giving false information when reporting her change of address. There was an additional charge that the judge also considered in her sentencing.

As the woman’s daughter is still a minor, her identity, as well as that of the school, is under a gag order.

While the prosecution had asked that the woman be given a hefty S$13,000 fine, on Nov 13, District Judge Sharmila Sripathy-Shanaz chose imprisonment as the woman’s penalty instead, noting the illicit benefit the woman’s daughter had received, the risk that an eligible child would be deprived of the benefit, and the school’s needless use of resources in determining whether the woman really lived in the address she had declared to the school.

She added that the woman had lied repeatedly and asked others to lie on her behalf.

“This demonstrates great persistence and dishonesty. Such serial offending heightens (the offender’s) culpability and reflects a total disregard for the law,” CNA quoted the judge as saying. “Integrity begins at home, and the lessons children draw from their parents’ example will endure far beyond the walls of any educational institution.”

After the judgment, the woman begged for a fine, but the judge told her that her decision was final. The woman then said she would file an appeal with the High Court.

The woman faced amalgamated charges for having knowingly given false information to a public servant, which meant she could have gone to jail for as long as four years, been fined, or both. As for the charge of giving false information when reporting a change of address, she could have been jailed for up to two years, been made to pay a fine of as much as S$3,000, or both.

The woman had previously been unrepresented in court.

On Monday (Nov 17), CNA reported that it understands that she has now hired Deepak Natverlal from Crown Juris Law to represent her legally for her appeal, which is set for a later date. /TISG

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