Case of dad who killed child: High Court voids ‘wrong’ gag order
Prosecution says there was public interest in identifying the culprit
A gag order that was wrongly imposed in June by a magistrate in the case of a man who killed his two-year-old daughter - a year after their names had been published in the media - was quashed by the High Court yesterday.
The prosecution, in asking for the error to be corrected, said there was public interest in identifying the offender, Johnboy John Teo.
Conversely, there was no public interest in suppressing the identity of the victim, Ashley Clare, who is dead.
"The public has a continuing and unsatiated interest in knowing the outcome of this case," said Deputy Public Prosecutors Kumaresan Gohulabalan and Andre Chong in written submissions.
Teo, through his lawyer, Mr John Tan, told the court that he has no objections.
The 36-year-old former IT systems specialist is currently serving a six-year jail term after he pleaded guilty on July 29 to a reduced charge of culpable homicide.
Teo, who was suffering from major depressive disorder, had suffocated Ashley on June 16 last year in his matrimonial flat in Sengkang.
He was then going through divorce proceedings from his wife, Ms Eileen Cheok, who had moved out of the flat with their daughter. An interim judgment of divorce was made on June 12 last year.
On June 15 that year, both parents took the girl to a parent-teacher meeting at her pre-school.
When the girl began crying as Ms Cheok was about to leave, Teo felt that he did not have a place in Ashley's heart.
He then spotted a man waiting by a Mercedes-Benz and believed that the man was his ex-wife's boyfriend.
Over the weekend, Teo and Ashley spent time together.
On Sunday evening, Ashley fell asleep in the flat as Teo prepared to hand her over to her mother as part of her care arrangement. As he watched her, he replayed the events of the previous day in his mind.
Sitting next to his daughter, he stabbed and slashed his neck with knives from his kitchen, then he decided to kill her as he did not want to lose her in death.
When Teo was charged with murder on June 18 last year, his and Ashley's names were published by the media. The charge was amended to culpable homicide on June 10 this year.
On Monday, the prosecution said the granting of the gag order was "palpably wrong" as there were no countervailing considerations - such as protecting child victims or victims of sexual offences - which justified a detraction from the principle of open justice.
Open justice is a legal principle that means an accused person is publicly tried and the reporting of ongoing proceedings is allowed. In this case, the victim would not have been further harmed by the disclosure of her identity.
Get The New Paper on your phone with the free TNP app. Download from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store now