Caned 74 times but he goes on crime spree after jail

Caned 74 times but he goes on crime spree after jail

He gets 20 years' jail after string of armed robberies

By Vivien Chan
February 17, 2009

HE has spent more than three decades in jail and has been sentenced to a total of 74 strokes of the cane.

Yet, just months after his latest jail term, the 56-year-old was committing a string of armed robberies.

Till he came up against a little girl from China.

And the robbery he committed at her flat is likely to be his last, at least for a long time to come.

The girl, 12, was sleeping alone in her bedroom when Goh Kim Lian, wearing stockings over his face and wielding an axe, came in and told her to keep quiet.

Though she was terrified, the girl kept calm while he ransacked the room.

When he went out, she coolly reached for her handphone and called the police.

She told them: 'Someone is robbing us. Please come.'

The girl cannot be identified under the law as she is a minor.

Goh and his accomplice, Poh Liang Huat, 57, who was carrying a parang, managed to get away with $1,400 before the police arrived. But they were later caught.

Court documents stated that the two men, both unemployed, went to the flat in Circuit Road around 10.30pm on 31 Jul last year.

They hid their weapons under their T-shirts but took them out when they saw the girl's mother, a 38-year-old a study mama, in the living room.

Poh ordered her to go into the master bedroom, where she had been playing mahjong with three men.

Poh and Goh shouted 'robbery' in Hokkien and ordered all of them to hand over their money.

One of them, a 67-year-old, took out $1,400 and placed it on the table.

Goh then went into the other bedroom, where he found the girl.

Took handphones
He also took the handphones belonging to the four adults and put them outside the flat so that they could not call the police.

The two then fled with their loot.

When The New Paper visited the flat last week, the door and gate were open and a mahjong session was again taking place in one of the bedrooms.

The girl and her mother are still living there, but they declined to be interviewed.

The court heard that the flat was not the only place that Goh targeted.

Between 13 Jun and 31 Jul last year, he and his accomplices committed four other armed robberies and made away with almost $40,000.

On 13 Jun, Goh went to a spectacles shop on Balestier Road with Poh and Chan Chin Leong, 45, a cleaner.

They were armed with knives and a chopper, which they hid under their T-shirts.

Poh pretended that he wanted to change his glasses and asked for help.

Took out chopper
While he was being shown a spectacle frame, he took out his chopper and threatened the two female staff members.

They then took $15,000 from the counter and left.

Ten days later, the trio struck at a paint shop in MacPherson.

This time, they entered the shop and asked to see the boss.

An administrative assistant, who wanted to be known only as Ms Ng, told them that he was not around.

The men then took out their weapons and pointed them at the two female staff members.

One of them, Ms Ng, 43, told The New Paper: 'When I saw their weapons, I was stunned. We didn't know what to say.'

Ms Ng said the robbers made them go into a room at the back of the shop.

There were two other staff members there, a female accounts assistant and a man.

Goh ordered all of them to face the wall.

He stood guard over them while his accomplices ransacked the place.

'We were all very quiet. I was not really scared because one of them said they would not hurt us if we cooperated,' said Ms Ng.

'But they uttered vulgarities when they had difficulties finding money.'

She said the only time the men threatened to hurt them was when they caught her male colleague peeping at one of them.

'They seemed to know what they wanted. They were just after money and did not seem to notice the jewellery we were wearing,' she said.

The men took $15,000 from the counter and fled when a customer walked into the shop.

The staff called their boss, who hurried back from a bank nearby. Then they called the police.

Goh committed two other robberies before he was arrested and charged. Charges relating to these were taken into consideration when he was sentenced.

Goh pleaded guilty to three charges of armed robbery and was sentenced to 20 years of preventive detention. This means he is not eligible for early release.

The court was told of his long history of criminal behaviour, dating back to 1972 when he was just 19.

His previous convictions include theft, outrage of modesty of a child, armed robbery, and robbery with hurt.

In sentencing him, District Judge Sarjit Singh said that despite having served long jail terms, Goh remained unrepentent and unreformed.

He noted that Goh had committed the latest offences just seven months after he completed a lengthy jail term of 15 years.

Appealing against sentence
Said the judge: 'Given his long criminal history, he is too recalcitrant for reformation. He is a menace to society.'

He added that Goh should be jailed for a substantial period of time for the protection of the public.

Goh is appealing against his sentence. His accomplices were dealt with separately.



JUNE 1972
Sentenced to reformative training, a structured environment for young offenders, for robbery and fraudulent possession.

MARCH 1975
Jailed three years and caned 10 strokes for two counts of armed robbery.

APRIL 1981
Jailed four years and caned 10 strokes for armed robbery and theft.

AUGUST 1985
Jailed three years and caned six strokes for molesting a child under 14.

APRIL 1986
Sentenced to seven years' preventive detention and 24 strokes of the cane for two counts of armed robbery.

NOVEMBER 1992
Sentenced to 15 years' preventive detention and 24 strokes of the cane for seven charges, including robbery with hurt and theft.

Source: http://newpaper.asia1.com.sg/news/story/0,4136,193101,00.html?