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Man who held woman hostage at knifepoint in Yishun unfit for caning; 6 strokes of cane remitted

SINGAPORE – A man who held a 60-year-old woman at knifepoint in Yishun in 2023 was found unfit for caning due to health issues, and his sentence of six strokes of the cane was remitted.

SINGAPORE – A man who held a 60-year-old woman at knifepoint in Yishun in 2023 was found unfit for caning due to health issues, and his sentence of six strokes of the cane was remitted. The court heard on Sept 16 that no additional jail sentence was given to Mohamed Faizal Mohamed Ariff in lieu of caning. Details of his health issues were not disclosed. The 43-year-old was sentenced to eight years and a month’s jail with caning in July after pleading guilty to drug consumption, harassment, abduction and assaulting a police officer. Faizal was previously sentenced to five years and six months’ jail with three strokes of the cane after he was convicted of morphine consumption in 2014. Following his release, Faizal had a relapse and returned to his drug habit after he smoked methamphetamine, also known as Ice, in June 2022. On the morning of Jan 9, 2023, he consumed the drug and was later seen walking around Yishun while holding a knife. An eyewitness alerted the police, and officers arrived at the scene. The woman was sitting at a table at the void deck of Block 108 Yishun Ring Road, waiting for her nephew, when she saw Faizal. She got up to make her way to a nearby coffee shop. Meanwhile, Faizal saw the police officers and realised they were looking for him. He spotted the woman near a sheltered walkway and decided to use her as a shield in an attempt to flee. He approached the woman from behind, putting his left arm around her neck while holding the knife in his right hand and pointing it at her neck. The police officers tried to calm him down and get him to release the woman, but he refused. More officers soon arrived at the location. They stepped in, seized the weapon and arrested Faizal. The woman suffered a facial wound but did not seek medical attention. For abduction, an offender can be jailed for up to seven years, fined, caned or receive any combination of such punishments.