Fifty years ago on
this date, 12 July 1963, a prison Superintendent, Dutton together with two
other prison staffs were brutally murdered by prison rioters in Pulau Senang,
an island of Singapore. Let us hear from the Judge who sentenced the rioters to
death.
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|
Murray Buttrose
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QUOTE
1: “Murder
is the unlawful killing or causing death of one human being by another human
being with the intention of doing so. An accidental killing or causing of death
is not murder because, in such a case, the intention to cause death was absent.
The intention to kill, therefore, is of the essence of the offence.”
QUOTE
2: “It
is more than ever essential in this present day and age that the rule of law
should be preserved inviolate: that those who respect and obey it shall live in
freedom and security under it; that those who flout it and seek to set it at
nought shall be brought to book and punished.”
QUOTE
3: “You
have been told that it was better that 10 guilty men should go free rather than
one innocent man should be convicted. Of course it would be better, but that is
not good enough. That such a situation should be allowed to exist and to grow
and to develop in stature would, in my opinion, constitute a grave reflection
on the administration of the criminal jurisprudence of any civilized country.
It is, gentlemen of the jury, more than ever necessary in this present day and
age that the rule of law should be proclaimed aloud for all to hear: that those
who offend against it shall be punished; and those who observe and obey it
shall be allowed to live in freedom and security under it.”
QUOTE
4: “Each of you has been
convicted of the murder of Dutton and his two assistants. The evidence was
established that these murders were committed in circumstances of such utter
brutality, ruthlessness and savagery as defies description…The time has now
come for you to pay the penalty for your dreadful acts. If ever the punishment
fitted the crime, this case may be said with fairness and, I think propriety,
to provide the outstanding instance. The sentence of the Court upon you is that
you will be taken from this place to a lawful prison and taken to a place to be
hanged by the neck until you are dead. And may the Lord have mercy on your
soul.” [Pulau Senang was a penal
experiment where prisoners were allowed to roam freely on the island. It was
thought that detainees could be reformed through manual labour. The settlement
started on 18 May 1960, when 50 detainees arrived with Superintendent Daniel
Dutton. Over the next three years, the number of detainees rose to 320, and
they transformed the island into an attractive settlement. Believing that
through hard work, the detainees could be reformed. Dutton removed arms from
the guards. On 12 July 1963, a group of some 70 to 90 detainees rioted and
burned down most of the buildings. They hacked Dutton to death and killed two
other officers. 58 people were accused of rioting and murdering Dutton and
officers Arumugan Veerasingham and Tan Kok Hian. Because of the large number of
the accused, a special dock had to be constructed for them. The case went to
trial on 18 November and lasted an unprecedented 64 days. On 12 March 1964, the
seven-member jury found 18 of the accused guilty of murder, 18 guilty of
rioting with deadly weapons and 11 guilty of rioting. The remaining 11 accused
were acquitted. Those found guilty of murder were sentenced to death, while
those found guilty of rioting with deadly weapons were sentenced to three years
of imprisonment; the rest to two years of imprisonment. Most of those involved
in the rioting were members of secret societies who were detained without trial
and had no hope of leaving the island. As a result of the riots, the penal
experiment came to an abrupt end.]
AUTHOR: Murray Buttrose was a High court judge in The Supreme Court of the
Republic of Singapore from 24 December 1956 to 30 July 1968, he retired and
went to live in England. He was born in Australia and was the last of the
British expatriate judges to serve in Singapore, where he had worked in the
legal profession for 23 years.
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