Man admits to visiting woman on SHN at hotel room for birthday surprise
SINGAPORE — A woman was supposed to spend her birthday alone at a hotel while serving her Stay-Home Notice (SHN), but a male friend sneaked in to surprise her.
The Singaporean man, Kaiser Sow, 20, pleaded guilty on Thursday (29 July) to abetting Teo Yue Qi commit an offence by visiting the hotel room where she was serving her two-week SHN. He spent an hour there before sneaking out of the hotel, only to be caught by a staff member.
Sow was asked to undergo assessment for a probation suitability report by District Judge Tan Jen Tse. He will have one charge of trespassing into the hotel intending to commit an offence taken into consideration when he is sentenced.
Teo, 20, and Sow have known each other since they were in school.
On 22 November last year, Teo entered Singapore and was placed on SHN to last until 6 December. She was required to remain alone in her room at The Ritz-Carlton, Millenia Singapore during her SHN.
On her birthday on 28 November last year, Sow entered the hotel to see if he could surprise her with a visit. He had been in touch with her and knew which room she was staying at. He knew that he was not supposed to come into close contact with Teo during her SHN.
Sow was unable to access the 17th floor where Teo’s room was, so he followed some guests to the 30th floor of the hotel before taking a service elevator down to the 17th floor. He rang Teo’s doorbell and surprised her. She did not stop Sow from entering the room.
Sow spent an hour at the room and left at about 4pm. He took the staircase to the ground floor from the 17th floor before he encountered a hotel staff. When the staff tried to stop him, Sow fled and went home in a taxi.
Teo has not been charged in court.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Timotheus Koh did not object to the calling of a probation report, but noted that should probation be ordered, it would need to have more stringent conditions.
In his documents submitted to the court, Sow stated that he would abide by conditions for probation should it be imposed. He did not have anything to add in mitigation.
Sow will return to court on 8 September for sentencing.
For abetting Teo to breach her SHN, Sow may be jailed up to six months, or fined up to $10,000, or both.
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