Witness: I hired Ler Teck Siang to inject illegal drugs before sex
Singapore doc linked to HIV registry data leak is on trial for allegedly abetting witness to consume drugs
Before engaging in group sex with other men, a former drug abuser would often hire Singaporean doctor Ler Teck Siang, the man at the centre of the HIV registry data leak, to inject drugs into him and occasionally his "sex buddies", a district court heard yesterday.
Tutor Sim Eng Chee testified that he hired Ler to provide "outcall" services for him and his sex partners for more than six months before both of them were arrested on March 2 last year.
Ler is on trial for allegedly abetting Sim in consuming methamphetamine on Feb 26 last year and for possessing drug-related utensils on March 2.
Speaking on the third day of Ler's trial, Sim said he would even engage Ler twice in a day for "slamming", street slang for the administering of illegal drugs by injection.
He added that he first heard of Ler, whom he knew as Todd, through his "sex buddies" in the second half of 2017.
He was referred to Ler's Grindr page, an app for gay people to meet each other, and he contacted Ler soon after to ask if he provided "slamming" services.
Soon after, he began engaging Ler - who went by the moniker Altitude - to inject methamphetamine, which he described as a stimulant that left him sexually aroused.A session typically cost $40, and Sim would also reimburse Ler for his transport cost, he said.
On Feb 26 last year, he engaged Ler again for a "slamming" session at Swissotel The Stamford, where he had booked a room for a romp with two men.
Five days later, on March 2, Sim had another sex session, this time at Conrad Centennial Singapore hotel where he had stayed for a night. He went out to buy drugs in Geylang and had "lined up sexual partners".
Again, he contacted Ler for his "slamming services", but both were arrested in the hotel lobby instead.
Sim, who was jailed on Sept 24 last year for his drug offences, is now serving the rest of his sentence in a halfway house.
Meanwhile, Ler is serving a two-year jail sentence for cheating-related offences he committed while helping his American partner Mikhy Farrera-Brochez, who is HIV-positive, to deceive the authorities into letting him work here.
Ler also faces a charge under the Official Secrets Act relating to Singapore's HIV data registry leak, and another for failing to give a urine sample to Central Narcotics Bureau officers.
Both charges have been stood down for now.
Get The New Paper on your phone with the free TNP app. Download from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store now
