S'pore PR, 50, a repairman, loses appeal against rape conviction & sentence, gets 6 more months' jail in lieu of 13 strokes of cane

A rapist in Singapore lost his appeal against his conviction and sentence for four sexual offences on May 7, and received an additional six months' jail in lieu of 13 strokes of the cane, having turned 50.

Koh Lee Hwa, a repairman, was previously sentenced to 12 years and three weeks' jail and 13 strokes of the cane in November 2025 for raping a woman in her flat, where he was supposed to carry out repair works.

As the Singapore permanent resident turned 50 in January 2026, he could no longer be caned due to his age.

According to CNA, the Court of Appeal said the additional six months imprisonment would compensate for the loss of deterrence in the form of caning.

Koh will begin his jail term later in May and remains on bail with his daughter as his bailor.

Victim hired Koh for repair works

According to court documents seen by Mothership, the victim hired Koh to renovate her flat in 2015 and sporadically contacted him for repair works over the years.

Details of the victim and her friends are protected by a gag order.

While at the victim's flat to repair her lights, Koh committed the offences between 11:40am and 12:40pm on Aug. 23, 2021.

Koh was 45 at the time of the offences.

Koh's case was heard in the High Court in July 2025.

He was found guilty of raping the woman on Oct. 28, 2025.

The High Court judge said the victim's testimony was credible and rejected Koh's defence that the acts were done consensually.

Appeal

According to court documents, the petition of appeal was dated Mar. 12, 2026.

According to court documents filed on Apr. 13, 2026, the deputy public prosecutors said Koh had put the victim through the rigours of trial, and him "seeking to overturn his conviction and impugn his sentences for being manifestly excessive speaks volumes about his utter lack of remorse for his reprehensible criminality".

The Court of Appeal also said caning is always a good form of deterrence for sexual offences, and it would also give victims solace that the attacker has to feel physical pain in addition to jail, reported CNA.

In the petition, Koh appealed against the charges and contended that his sentence was excessive.

According to CNA, Koh was defended by lawyers Eugene Lee and Nichol Yeo from Nine Yards Chambers.

The appeal was heard by Justices Steven Chong, Tay Yong Kwang and Kannan Ramesh.

"Do you know how outrageous this is?"

According to CNA, Justice Chong questioned the defence when Lee argued that the victim's account had inconsistencies, saying he did not think "we should be focusing on all these minor inconsistencies".

Lee pointed out the victim's texts to her friends on the day of the rape, with a text of the victim saying she was scared in reference to an act Koh had done.

Justice Chong said: "Her reaction was - she's scared, right?"

Lee replied that that was what the victim had said to her friend, and Justice Chong said, "Are you suggesting that those messages were false? Contrived?"

When Lee said it was "possible", Justice Chong said, "Do you know how outrageous this is?"

Justice Chong said the defence at trial, which consisted of a different set of lawyers, had not expressed that the victim had fabricated those messages, and since this was the case, the appeal defence was not entitled to make such a submission.

Justice Chong said, "The answer is, you can't," and he added that he did not see how the defence could rely on alleged inconsistencies to undermine objective evidence

The judge added:

"Sexual intercourse is probably the most intimate, the most invasive act between a man and a woman."

Defence argued that additional jail term should not be imposed

According to CNA, Justice Chong asked if it made any sense for the victim to consent to sex, and Lee acknowledged that it would be difficult for him to use that argument.

Lee tried arguing that an additional jail term should not be imposed because Koh could not be caned due to his age.

According to CNA, one of the deputy public prosecutors urged the court not to "discount" Koh.

Justice Tay dismissed the appeal and agreed with the trial judge's decisions and reasons, and meted out an additional six months' jail in place of caning.