SINGAPORE: A man was sentenced to jail on Thursday (Oct 27) for trying to pass magazines with 32 needles hidden in them to his brother in prison.
Abdul Khaliq Mohammed Shan, 60, was given five months’ jail and an additional enhanced sentence of 88 days’ jail, as he committed the offence while on remission for past offences.
He pleaded guilty to one charge under the Prisons Act of attempting to introduce unauthorised articles into prison.
The court heard that Abdul Khaliq went to the Prison Link Centre in Changi on Jan 19 this year, and handed to the service counter three magazines: Augustman, Her World and Female Magazine.
The magazines were meant for his brother, an inmate in Cluster B of Changi Prison Complex.
Later that day, a visit officer checked the three magazines. She was deployed at the centre to censor reading materials from visitors before handing them to inmates, and was required to scan such materials with a handheld metal detector to check for contraband items.
While scanning the magazines with her metal detector, she found a total of 32 sewing needles hidden in the spines of the magazines.
The needles were between 3.5cm and 4.5cm long.
A prisons officer lodged a police report that same day.
During investigations, Abdul Khaliq claimed that an unidentified man went to his house a few days before his scheduled visit to the prison, and asked for help to pass the magazines to Abdul Khaliq’s brother.
Abdul Khaliq claimed he did not know this man’s name, had never seen him before and did not have his contact details.
By failing to check the identity of the unknown man or the contents of the magazines before attempting to take them into prison, Abdul Khaliq failed to exercise reasonable care, the court heard.
Abdul Khaliq is currently being rehabilitated at the Drug Rehabilitation Centre. He was admitted there in April this year and is due to be discharged in 2025.
The prosecutor asked for four to five months’ jail, with an enhancement of 89 days’ jail.
Unauthorised sewing needles are sharp objects that could be easily concealed and abused in the wrong hands, and should not be introduced into a secure prison environment, he said.
Abdul Khaliq had also committed the offence about halfway through his remission period for previous offences.
For attempting to introduce unauthorised articles into prison, he could have been jailed up to 12 months, fined up to S$3,000, or both.