Public Prosecutor v McCrea Michael: Culpable Homicide and Disappearance of Evidence

In Public Prosecutor v McCrea Michael, the High Court of Singapore sentenced McCrea Michael after he pleaded guilty to two charges of culpable homicide not amounting to murder and one charge of causing the disappearance of evidence. The court considered the 'totality' and 'one-transaction' principles in determining the appropriate sentence. The court sentenced him to imprisonment.

1. Case Overview

1.1 Court

High Court

1.2 Outcome

Accused sentenced to imprisonment.

1.3 Case Type

Criminal

1.4 Judgment Type

Grounds of Decision

1.5 Jurisdiction

Singapore

1.6 Description

McCrea Michael pleaded guilty to culpable homicide and causing disappearance of evidence. The High Court sentenced him to imprisonment, considering the 'totality' and 'one-transaction' principles.

1.7 Decision Date

4 July 2006

2. Parties and Outcomes

Party Name	Role	Type	Outcome	Outcome Type	Counsels
Public Prosecutor	Prosecution	Government Agency	Judgment for Prosecution	Won	Wong Kok Weng, Christopher Ong Siu Jin, Gillian Koh Tan
McCrea Michael	Defendant	Individual	Convicted	Lost	Kelvin Lim, Jason Peter Dendroff

3. Judges

Judge Name	Title	Delivered Judgment
Choo Han Teck	Judge	Yes

4. Counsels

Counsel Name	Organization
Wong Kok Weng	Deputy Public Prosecutor
Christopher Ong Siu Jin	Deputy Public Prosecutor
Gillian Koh Tan	Deputy Public Prosecutor
Kelvin Lim	Kelvin Lim & Partners
Jason Peter Dendroff	Ann Tan & Associates

4. Facts

The accused pleaded guilty to two charges of culpable homicide and one charge of causing the disappearance of evidence.
The accused killed Kho Nai Guan by strangulation during a fight.
The accused killed Lan Ya Ming by suffocating her with plastic bags.
The accused, along with others, disposed of the bodies and cleaned the crime scene.
The accused and Audrey Ong Pei Ling fled to London and then to Melbourne, Australia.
The accused was arrested in Melbourne and extradited to Singapore.

5. Formal Citations

Public Prosecutor v McCrea Michael, CC 17/2006, [2006] SGHC 119

6. Timeline

Date	Event
2002-01-02	Kho Nai Guan died.
2002-01-03	Lan Ya Ming died.
2002-01-05	Evidence of the murders was disposed of.
2002-01-05	The accused and Audrey Ong Pei Ling fled to London.
2002-06-06	The accused and Audrey Ong Pei Ling were arrested in Melbourne, Australia.
2006-07-05	Judgment issued.

7. Legal Issues

Sentencing Principles
- Outcome: The court applied the 'totality' and 'one-transaction' principles in determining the sentence.
- Category: Substantive
- Sub-Issues:
  - Application of 'totality' principle
  - Application of 'one-transaction' principle
- Related Cases:
  - [2006] 1 SLR 388
Culpable Homicide
- Outcome: The accused was found guilty of culpable homicide not amounting to murder.
- Category: Substantive
Causing Disappearance of Evidence
- Outcome: The accused was found guilty of causing the disappearance of evidence.
- Category: Substantive

8. Remedies Sought

Sentencing

9. Cause of Actions

Culpable Homicide Not Amounting to Murder
Causing Disappearance of Evidence

10. Practice Areas

Criminal Law
Sentencing

11. Industries

No industries specified

12. Cited Cases

Case Name	Court	Affirmed	Citation	Jurisdiction	Significance
V Murugesan v PP	Court of Appeal	Yes	[2006] 1 SLR 388	Singapore	Cited as an example of the 'one-transaction' principle where multiple offences were closely connected.

13. Applicable Rules

Rule Name
No applicable rules

14. Applicable Statutes

Statute Name	Jurisdiction
s 304(b) Penal Code (Cap 224, 1985 Rev Ed)	Singapore
s 201 Penal Code (Cap 224, 1985 Rev Ed)	Singapore
s 18 Criminal Procedure Code (Cap 68, 1985 Rev Ed)	Singapore

15. Key Terms and Keywords

15.1 Key Terms

Culpable Homicide
Disappearance of Evidence
Sentencing Principles
Totality Principle
One-Transaction Principle
Extradition

15.2 Keywords

culpable homicide
disappearance of evidence
sentencing
criminal law
singapore

16. Subjects

Criminal Law
Sentencing

17. Areas of Law

Criminal Procedure
Sentencing
Criminal Law
Homicide