Doctor who says he can't recall attacking ex is 'lying' to fabricate a psychiatric defence: Prosecution
Clarence Teo Shun Jie is accused of assaulting his girlfriend in 2017. (Photos: Raj Nadarajan/TODAY, court documents)
SINGAPORE: A doctor who claimed he blacked out and cannot remember anything during the period when he allegedly assaulted his girlfriend, leaving her with fractures, is "lying" and "spinning a tale" to fabricate a psychiatric defence, a court was told on Wednesday (Nov 6).
This assertion was put forward by the prosecution to the accused Dr Clarence Teo Shun Jie, 35, who is contesting charges for locking his girlfriend in his room and brutally attacking her.
The incident is said to have occurred in Dr Teo's Redhill flat in the early hours of Aug 27, 2017, after the victim refused him sex.
Cross-examining the locum doctor on the stand, Deputy Public Prosecutor April Phang charged that Dr Teo was lying or making up his account of not remembering anything of the assault.
"How is it you remember snippets of things after the assault and before the assault, but not the assault?" questioned the prosecutor.
Dr Teo said he did not know.
"You remember you had an argument (with the victim), but you can't remember feeling rage?" Ms Phang again asked.
Dr Teo said he did not remember. He had told the court a day earlier that he was suffering from severe alcoholism at the time of the offences and often suffered black-outs after drinking.
He said he did not recall the victim, 27-year-old Rachel Lim En Hui, screaming or shouting.
"Your physical senses must be engaged right, sights, hearing, perception, but you don't remember?"
Dr Teo agreed that his senses should have been engaged, but said he did not remember.
"I put it to you that this break in your memory is incredible and very convenient," said Ms Phang.
"I put it to you that you know very well that you had locked the room, punched Ms Lim in her face ... and slammed her against the wall."
Dr Teo disagreed. Photos of Ms Lim's swollen and bloodied face were made public on her blog after the incident.
"This is my case," added the prosecutor. "That this was not random. You were able to chase and target her. You specifically targeted her and punched her head deliberately. The fact that you could specifically target her face suggests it's not a random episode."
She charged that Dr Teo was not so drunk as to "obliterate" the memory of what happened.
"I put it to you that this is a deliberate and cold-blooded attack," she said.
Dr Teo disagreed.
"I put it to you that you are intentionally blocking this memory and you are adamant that you know nothing about it because it will cement your guilt," the prosecutor continued.
She said Dr Teo was an "extremely capable individual" who could comprehend the defence of intoxication, and went to see a psychiatrist for his chosen defence of being under the influence of drugs and alcohol.
"You spun this narrative of not remembering anything after 1am (that day) to fabricate a psychiatric defence," said Ms Phang. "You are lying, or making this up."
"I'm sure there are more than two possibilities," said Dr Teo.
The trial continues in the afternoon, with Dr Teo's father taking the stand. He had called the police on the day of the incident.
If found guilty of voluntarily causing grievous hurt, Dr Teo could be jailed for up to 10 years and fined or caned.
He could be jailed for up to a year, fined a maximum S$3,000, or both if convicted of wrongfully confining his ex-girlfriend.
