PUBLIC PROSECUTOR v Zin Mar Nwe

[2023] SGHC 146 High Court (General Division) 18 May 2023 HC/CC 60/2021

4 cases cited (3 SG, 1 foreign) Cited by 1 case

Outcome

Convicted

“I convict the accused of murder, as charged.”

Source: [2023] SGHC 146, High Court (General Division), decided 18 May 2023. Read directly from the judgment.

Key facts

Court	High Court (General Division)
Decided	18 May 2023
Judge	Andre Maniam
Charges / claim	Criminal Law
Outcome	Convicted
Counsel	Attorney-General's Chambers, Christopher Bridges Law Corporation, Coleman Street Chambers LLC, Matthew Chiong Partnership, Christopher Bridges, Kumaresan Gohulabalan, Sean Teh, Tan Lin Yin Vickie, Wong Hong Weng Stephen

Source: [2023] SGHC 146, High Court (General Division), decided 18 May 2023 — eLitigation. Updated 10 July 2026.

Catchwords

Criminal Law — Offences — Murder Criminal Law — Special exceptions — Diminished responsibility

Practice Areas

Criminal Law

Judges (1)

Andre Maniam Delivered

Counsel (9)

Attorney-General's Chambers Firm Christopher Bridges Law Corporation Firm Coleman Street Chambers LLC Firm Matthew Chiong Partnership Firm

Christopher Bridges Counsel for the accused

Kumaresan Gohulabalan Counsel for the prosecution Sean Teh Counsel for the prosecution Tan Lin Yin Vickie Counsel for the accused Wong Hong Weng Stephen Counsel for the accused

Parties (2)

Public Prosecutor Prosecution

Zin Mar Nwe Accused

Case Significance

Public Prosecutor v Zin Mar Nwe [2023] SGHC 146 is a reserved judgment of Andre Maniam J in the General Division of the High Court, delivered on 18 May 2023 in Criminal Case No 60 of 2021. The accused, a foreign domestic worker who was 17 but whose passport stated she was 23, stabbed the 70-year-old mother-in-law of her employer some 26 times on 25 June 2018 and was charged the following day with murder under s 300(c) read with s 302(2) of the Penal Code. The judgment concerns the murder charge and the special exception of diminished responsibility.

Summary

Zin Mar Nwe, a 17-year-old foreign domestic worker, was charged with murder under s 300(c) of the Penal Code for stabbing her employer's 70-year-old mother-in-law some 26 times, and relied on the partial defence of diminished responsibility under Exception 7 to s 300. The court found she failed to establish the defence on a balance of probabilities and, that being the sole basis on which she resisted the charge, convicted her of murder.

What was Public Prosecutor v Zin Mar Nwe [2023] SGHC 146 about?

Andre Maniam J heard the murder case against Zin Mar Nwe, a foreign domestic worker charged under s 300(c) read with s 302(2) of the Penal Code for stabbing her employer's 70-year-old mother-in-law some 26 times on 25 June 2018.

What legal issue did Public Prosecutor v Zin Mar Nwe [2023] SGHC 146 address?

The judgment concerned a charge of murder under s 300(c) of the Penal Code and the special exception of diminished responsibility, in the case of an accused who was 17 at the time but had declared her age as 23.