• Lim Ghim Peow had doused Mary Yoong Mei Ling with petrol and set her ablaze
• He sought to have his case reopened, claiming that the 20-year sentence was excessive and mistakes were made by the sentencing judge
• The Court of Appeal threw out the application, saying it was “wholly devoid of merit”

SINGAPORE — Several years after being sentenced to 20 years’ jail for killing his ex-girlfriend, Lim Ghim Peow’s application for a review of his case was rejected by the Court of Appeal.

The three-judge panel on Monday (Oct 19) ruled that Lim’s bid was “wholly devoid of merit” and was “nothing but an attempt to mount a backdoor appeal”.

His allegations against his former lawyers, including the late prominent criminal lawyer Subhas Anandan, were also “entirely baseless” and amounted to nothing but bare assertions, the judges added.

Lim, now 52, had doused Mary Yoong Mei Ling with petrol in May 2012 and set her ablaze. The 43-year-old woman later died of severe burns over 75 per cent of her body.

In sentencing the former taxi driver in 2014, then-Judicial Commissioner Tan Siong Thye described it as one of the worst cases of culpable homicide here.

Lim had pleaded guilty to a single charge. He was found to have suffered from major depressive disorder at the time, and was abusing methamphetamine on a daily basis since March 2012.

He appealed against his sentence but it was dismissed. In 2017, his attempt at another appeal was also rejected.

His latest move was to have his case reheard on the basis that the sentence was excessive and the judge had made mistakes in his judgement.

‘SECOND BITE AT THE CHERRY’

On Monday, Lim appeared through the video-conferencing platform Zoom from Changi Prison where he has been serving his sentence.

Speaking in Mandarin through an interpreter, he alleged that the prosecution had twisted the facts of the case and that there were a number of inaccuracies or gaps in the statement of facts he had pleaded guilty to.

He said that Subhas, who died in early 2015 from heart failure, was ill and could not properly answer questions posed to him by the court.

Aside from Subhas, his mentees, Mr Sunil Sudheesan and Ms Diana Ngiam, represented Lim as well.

Lim also claimed that he did not intend to kill Yoong or take revenge on her, and only planned to “bring her along”.

At one point, he pointed to similar cases of culpable homicide and said he felt his sentence was too heavy and unfair.

In response, Deputy Chief Prosecutor Francis Ng described it as a “second bite at the cherry”, adding that the statement of facts Lim pleaded guilty to was “crafted based on investigation findings”.

Delivering the apex court’s decision, Judge of Appeal Andrew Phang noted that Lim’s application did not adhere to statutory requirements under the Criminal Procedure Code in the first place. He should have obtained leave to make an application but did not.

Applicants must also show that there is enough material, either evidential or of a legal nature, for appellate courts to conclude if there has been a miscarriage of justice.

If the material does not satisfy any of the following requirements under the law, the review application will be thrown out:

• The material was not explored at any stage during previous court proceedings

• It was compelling enough to show a miscarriage of justice in relation to an earlier decision

• The material could not have been adduced with reasonable diligence

Lim did not meet these requirements, the judges said.

In addition, they said that his lawyers were far from negligent. “It was clear that counsel expended prodigious efforts to represent him and acted in the best traditions of the Bar.”

When the judges noted that Lim had pleaded guilty without qualification, he replied: “Rubbish!”

He will continue serving his sentence in Changi Prison.

THE CASE

Lim met Yoong when they were still married to their previous spouses.

They began dating in 2008 and she moved into his Bendemeer rental flat, but the relationship soured by late 2011.

He repeatedly tried to reconcile with her but she was already dating another man.

A few months before the killing, Lim threatened to set fire to Yoong’s friend’s flat if she refused to meet him.

During their meeting, when she accused him of making empty threats, he got a four-litre petrol tin and showed it to her. They eventually parted ways without anything happening.

Yoong then began dating another man and Lim continued harassing her.

On May 23, 2012, he waited for her at her flat. She called the police and he realised she had no intention of reconciling with him, then resolved to killing her before committing suicide.

He prepared six plastic bottles of petrol and kept watch at the flat. When she left the flat, he asked her for one last chance but she refused.

She ran back home and he reached through the gate, doused her with petrol and set her on fire with a lighter. Part of her cousin’s body caught fire too, with the flames spreading to the door and ceiling.

They managed to extinguish the fire with their neighbours’ help, before being taken to the hospital. Yoong died 13 hours later.

For culpable homicide, Lim could have been jailed for up to 20 years or for life and fined or caned.