Mustapah Bin Abdullah v PUBLIC PROSECUTOR

[2023] SGCA 30 Court of Appeal 3 October 2023 CA/CCA 34/2022 53 min read
26 cases cited (25 SG, 1 foreign) Cited by 6 cases

Outcome

Appeal dismissed

We therefore dismiss the appeal against conviction but allow the appeal against sentence to the extent stated.

Source: [2023] SGCA 30, Court of Appeal, decided 3 October 2023. Read directly from the judgment.

Key facts

Court Court of Appeal
Decided
Judges Belinda Ang Saw Ean, Judith Prakash, Tay Yong Kwang
Charges / claim Criminal Law, Criminal Procedure and Sentencing
Outcome Appeal dismissed
Counsel Attorney-General's Chambers, Gail Wong, Gladys Lim, Tay Jia En

Source: [2023] SGCA 30, Court of Appeal, decided — eLitigation. Updated .

Catchwords

Practice Areas

Judges (3)

Counsel (4)

Parties (2)

Case Significance

Mustapah bin Abdullah v Public Prosecutor [2023] SGCA 30 is a judgment of the Court of Appeal, delivered on 3 October 2023 in Criminal Appeal No 34 of 2022, with Judith Prakash JCA delivering the judgment of the court alongside Tay Yong Kwang JCA and Belinda Ang Saw Ean JCA. The appellant had been convicted on 17 August 2022, after a trial in the High Court, on three charges of sexual assault by oral-penile penetration involving three teenaged male victims, brought under s 376(1)(a) of the Penal Code (Cap 224, 2008 Rev Ed). The appeal primarily concerned the crime of sexual assault, and the judgment addresses conviction and sentencing on the sexual assault by penetration offences.

[2023] SGCA 30 explained

Mustapah Bin Abdullah v PUBLIC PROSECUTOR ([2023] SGCA 30) is a Singapore judgment decided by the Court of Appeal on 3 October 2023. It is categorised under Criminal Law and Criminal Procedure and Sentencing. Within this corpus it has since been cited by 6 other reported Singapore judgments, a measure of how often later decisions have referred to it. This page summarises what the reported decision covers and links the primary sources — the full judgment, the statutes it cites, and the other cases it engages with — so the decision can be read in context. It is reference information, not legal advice, and it does not state the outcome or any holding beyond what the official judgment records.

What is [2023] SGCA 30 about?

Mustapah Bin Abdullah v PUBLIC PROSECUTOR ([2023] SGCA 30) is a Court of Appeal decision from 2023. Its published catchwords are “Criminal Law — Offences — Sexual offences” and “Criminal Procedure and Sentencing — Sentencing — Appeals”, which indicate the subject matter the judgment addresses. The full reasoning and orders are in the judgment itself, linked below.

Which legislation does [2023] SGCA 30 consider?

The judgment refers to Criminal Procedure Code (Cap 68) and Penal Code (Cap 224). The statutes cited are listed in full on this page, each linking to its primary text.

How influential is [2023] SGCA 30?

Within this corpus, [2023] SGCA 30 has been cited by 6 later reported Singapore judgments. That count reflects references from other decisions held in this corpus only and is a conservative lower bound on how often the case has actually been cited.

Summary

Mustapah bin Abdullah appealed to the Court of Appeal against his conviction and sentence after being found guilty of three charges of sexual assault by penetration under s 376(1)(a) of the Penal Code involving three teenaged male victims, plus a related charge of sexual penetration of a minor. The court dismissed the appeal against conviction but allowed the appeal against sentence, recalibrating the global sentence downward to 18 years and 6 months' imprisonment.

What was Mustapah bin Abdullah v Public Prosecutor [2023] SGCA 30 about?

It was a Court of Appeal criminal appeal by Mustapah bin Abdullah, decided on 3 October 2023 with Judith Prakash JCA delivering the judgment, concerning his conviction on three charges of sexual assault by penetration involving three teenaged male victims.

What charges did the appellant face in [2023] SGCA 30?

The appellant was convicted on 17 August 2022, after a High Court trial, of three charges of sexual assault by oral-penile penetration of three teenaged male victims, brought under s 376(1)(a) of the Penal Code and heard on appeal in Criminal Appeal No 34 of 2022.

Statutes Cited

Cases Cited (26)

SG (7)
[2005] SGHC 160 [2014] SGDC 86 [2019] SGHC 49 [2020] SGHC 44 [2022] SGCA 19 [2022] SGHC 166 [2022] SGHC 262
SLR (18)
[1990] 1 SLR(R) 287 [1997] 2 SLR(R) 569 [2003] 4 SLR(R) 374 [2008] 4 SLR(R) 686 [2010] 1 SLR 874 [2010] 2 SLR 15 [2012] 3 SLR 34 [2014] 2 SLR 1189 [2014] 2 SLR 998 [2015] 4 SLR 150 [2017] 1 SLR 292 [2017] 2 SLR 1015 [2017] 2 SLR 449 [2017] 5 SLR 904 [2018] 4 SLR 1315 [2019] 2 SLR 764 [2020] 1 SLR 486 [2021] 5 SLR 1434
MY (1)
[1990] 1 MLJ 225

Cited By (6)

Related cases

Other Singapore judgments involving the same parties or counsel.

Referenced in

Statutes interpreted in this judgment

Legal concepts & references

Judgment

Read the full judgment on the official Singapore Courts portal.

Read on eLitigation

Source: eLitigation ([2023] SGCA 30)