Woman who left SHN hotel room by climbing balcony given discharge amounting to acquittal

SINGAPORE — A Singaporean woman who was hauled to court after she climbed up to the balcony of another room while serving her Stay-Home Notice (SHN) at a hotel in Sentosa was given a discharge amounting to an acquittal on all four charges on Thursday (7 October).

Jin Chensu, 38, was charged for allegedly leaving her room at Shangri-La Rasa Sentosa Resort twice, lurking along the common corridor of her hotel facility until she was discovered by hotel staff.

An Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) prosecutor told the court on Thursday that the authorities were withdrawing all four charges Jin faced, as she had paid a composition fine to ICA.

In a previous hearing, Jin had requested for her previous composition to be reinstated, as she had failed to accept it due to a communication error.

Two of her charges were under the Infectious Diseases Act, while the other two came under the COVID-19 (Temporary Measures) (Control Order) Regulations 2020.

Jin, who was represented by lawyer Amarjit Singh, had returned to Singapore from Cambodia on 4 October last year and was served with an SHN from 4 to 18 October.

She was briefed about her obligations under the SHN, including not leaving her dedicated facility during her SHN, and was brought to a hotel in Sentosa.

Jin allegedly left her room without a mask on 6 October, from 7.18pm to 7.23pm. She is said to have climbed to the balcony of a room on the upper floor and remained there for five minutes before climbing down to her own balcony.

Three days later, Jin allegedly left without a mask again from 1.35pm to 2.02pm. She loitered along the corridor until she was found by hotel staff some 25 minutes later. She was then escorted back to her room.

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