Public Prosecutor v Boh Soon Ho: Murder, Provocation, and Diminished Responsibility

In the High Court of Singapore, Boh Soon Ho was tried for the murder of Zhang Huaxiang. The court, presided over by Justice Pang Khang Chau, found Boh guilty under Section 300(c) of the Penal Code. Boh's defenses of grave and sudden provocation and diminished responsibility were rejected. The court sentenced Boh to life imprisonment, considering his lack of premeditation and remorse.

1. Case Overview

1.1 Court

High Court of the Republic of Singapore

1.2 Outcome

Accused convicted and sentenced to imprisonment for life.

1.3 Case Type

Criminal

1.4 Judgment Type

Grounds of Decision

1.5 Jurisdiction

Singapore

1.6 Description

Boh Soon Ho was tried for the murder of Zhang Huaxiang. The court convicted Boh and sentenced him to life imprisonment, rejecting defenses of provocation and diminished responsibility.

1.7 Decision Date

18 March 2020

2. Parties and Outcomes

Party Name	Role	Type	Outcome	Outcome Type	Counsels
Public Prosecutor	Prosecution	Government Agency	Conviction	Won	Wong Kok Weng of Prosecution Jason Chua of Prosecution
Boh Soon Ho	Defendant	Individual	Imprisonment for Life	Lost	Chooi Jing Yen of Eugene Thuraisingam LLP Eugene Thuraisingam of Eugene Thuraisingam LLP Hamza Malik of Eugene Thuraisingam LLP

3. Judges

Judge Name	Title	Delivered Judgment
Pang Khang Chau	Judge	Yes

4. Counsels

Counsel Name	Organization
Wong Kok Weng	Prosecution
Jason Chua	Prosecution
Chooi Jing Yen	Eugene Thuraisingam LLP
Eugene Thuraisingam	Eugene Thuraisingam LLP
Hamza Malik	Eugene Thuraisingam LLP

4. Facts

The accused strangled the deceased with a towel in his apartment.
The accused suspected the deceased of seeing another man.
The deceased told the accused that she was intimate with another man.
The accused was angry that the deceased was intimate with another man.
The accused had spent approximately $30,000 on the deceased over the years.
The accused attempted to have sex with the deceased's body after her death.
The accused confessed to his sister that he had strangled the deceased to death.

5. Formal Citations

Public Prosecutor v Boh Soon Ho, Criminal Case No 41 of 2019, [2020] SGHC 58

6. Timeline

Date	Event
2011-01-01	Accused and deceased became acquainted.
2016-03-18	Accused saw the deceased leaving her apartment with a man.
2016-03-21	The deceased was strangled at the accused's apartment.
2016-03-22	Accused's landlord discovered the deceased's body.
2016-03-23	Accused contacted his landlord in Singapore.
2016-04-04	Accused was arrested by the Malaysian police.
2016-04-05	Accused was brought back to Singapore.
2019-09-18	Trial began.
2019-11-22	Prosecution's closing submissions.
2019-11-22	Defence's closing submissions.
2019-12-06	Defence's reply closing submissions.
2020-03-20	Judgment delivered.

7. Legal Issues

Whether the Prosecution proved each element of the offence under section 300(c) of the Penal Code beyond a reasonable doubt
- Outcome: The court found that the Prosecution proved each of the four elements of the offence beyond a reasonable doubt.
- Category: Substantive
Whether the Defence proved the partial defence of grave and sudden provocation on the balance of probabilities
- Outcome: The court found that the Defence did not prove the partial defence of grave and sudden provocation on the balance of probabilities.
- Category: Substantive
Whether the Defence proved the partial defence of diminished responsibility on the balance of probabilities
- Outcome: The court found that the Defence did not prove the partial defence of diminished responsibility on the balance of probabilities.
- Category: Substantive

8. Remedies Sought

Conviction for Murder

9. Cause of Actions

Murder

10. Practice Areas

Criminal Law

11. Industries

No industries specified

12. Cited Cases

Case Name	Court	Affirmed	Citation	Jurisdiction	Significance
Public Prosecutor v Chia Kee Chen	Court of Appeal	Yes	[2018] 2 SLR 249	Singapore	Cited for the elements of a charge under section 300(c) of the Penal Code.
Kho Jabing v PP	Unknown	Yes	[2011] 3 SLR 634	Singapore	Cited for the elements of a charge under section 300(c) of the Penal Code.
Virsa Singh v State of Punjab	Supreme Court	Yes	AIR 1958 SC 465	India	Cited for the elements of a charge under section 300(c) of the Penal Code and the nature of inquiry for the first three elements.
Mohammed Ali bin Johari v Public Prosecutor	Unknown	Yes	[2008] 4 SLR(R) 1058	Singapore	Cited for the requirements for the defence of provocation to apply.
Seah Kok Meng v Public Prosecutor	Unknown	Yes	[2001] 2 SLR(R) 24	Singapore	Cited for the requirements for the defence of provocation to apply.
Pathip Selvan s/o Sugumaran v Public Prosecutor	Unknown	Yes	[2012] 4 SLR 453	Singapore	Cited for the subjective and objective tests for the defence of provocation.
Public Prosecutor v Kwan Cin Cheng	Unknown	Yes	[1998] 1 SLR(R) 434	Singapore	Cited for the objective test for the defence of provocation.
Iskandar bin Rahmat v Public Prosecutor and other matters	Unknown	Yes	[2017] 1 SLR 505	Singapore	Cited for the conditions to establish the defence of diminished responsibility.
Ong Pang Siew v Public Prosecutor	Unknown	Yes	[2011] 1 SLR 606	Singapore	Cited for the conditions to establish the defence of diminished responsibility.
Nagaenthran a/l K Dharmalingam v Public Prosecutor and another appeal	Court of Appeal	Yes	[2019] 2 SLR 216	Singapore	Cited for the definition of abnormality of mind in the context of diminished responsibility.
Regina v Byrne	Unknown	Yes	[1960] 2 QB 396	Unknown	Cited for the definition of abnormality of mind.
Public Prosecutor v Kho Jabing	Court of Appeal	Yes	[2015] 2 SLR 112	Singapore	Cited for principles in determining appropriate sentence.

13. Applicable Rules

Rule Name
No applicable rules

14. Applicable Statutes

Statute Name	Jurisdiction
Penal Code (Cap 224, 2008 Rev Ed) s 300(c)	Singapore
Penal Code (Cap 224, 2008 Rev Ed) s 300 Exception 1	Singapore
Penal Code (Cap 224, 2008 Rev Ed) s 300 Exception 7	Singapore
Penal Code s 44	Singapore

15. Key Terms and Keywords

15.1 Key Terms

Strangulation
Provocation
Diminished Responsibility
Manual Compression of Neck
Abnormality of Mind
Loss of Self-Control

15.2 Keywords

Murder
Provocation
Diminished Responsibility
Singapore
Criminal Law

17. Areas of Law

Area Name	Relevance Score
Murder	95
Criminal Law	90
Culpable Homicide	60
Criminal Procedure	50
Sentencing	40
Evidence	30

16. Subjects

Criminal Law
Homicide
Defences