Acquitted

Tan Yew Sin, 47, was acquitted by High Court judge Pang Khang Chau of three charges -- attempted rape, sexual assault by penetration, and outrage of modesty, ...

He said she was required to have been unable to understand the nature and consequence of what she was consenting to due to intoxication to demonstrate a lack of capacity for consent. CNA reported that the judge also said drinking a substantial amount of alcohol or behaving unusually did not indicate a lack of capacity for consent, and also that the inability to form memories due to alcohol intoxication did not mean the woman was unable to perform cognitive functions. This was so as the woman was unable to recall the sexual encounter and could not give evidence as to whether she consented, CNA reported. CNA reported that Justice Pang also agreed with the defence's secondary argument that Tan could have been mistaken and held the reasonable belief that the woman was able to consent even when she was unable to. The woman was also able to respond to Tan when he told her to stop hitting her own chest with her fist and banging her head on the window. Even after the sexual acts, the woman told Tan she was okay after he asked her if she was. Justice Pang said the question to be decided was whether the woman lost the capacity to "understand and decide" on her actions that morning, CNA reported. The prosecution's case was that the woman did not give consent and was so intoxicated that she would not have been able to. Tan could also reasonably have been mistaken that the woman was able to consent, the judge also found. However, Tan said the woman was able to tell him her address so he did not think she was drunk. Tan said the woman reciprocated as they kissed and touched each other and he said in court that she was "very much involved". The judge subsequently ruled that she was able to give consent, or at least, the accused reasonably believed she was able to.