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SINGAPORE: The future of a teacher who was convicted of molesting two boys in 2007 hangs in the balance.
William Ding's appeal has been adjourned after a full day's hearing at the Court of Appeal.
Ding had been sentenced to a year's jail after he was found guilty on three charges.
But the defence has submitted an appeal - arguing, among others, that the trial judge Jusbendaur Kaur had failed to corroborate the evidence provided by Ding's accusers.
The court heard on Wednesday that the judge had used words like "indirectly corroborated" evidence at the original trial.
The appeal judge brought up the possibility that the trial judge could have linked one of the charges to another.
The defence also argued that the accusers had colluded against the former teacher. But the prosecution discounted this. It pointed out that Ding's accusers were part of a tight-knit group as they had been a part of a competitive sporting team.
The judge has asked for a copy of the Education Ministry’s report relating to the case by Monday.
Due to time constraints, Justice V K Rajah asked both the defence and prosecution to produce a written submission by 18 April.
The defence has until 23 April to respond to the submission by the prosecution. The appeal can then be decided by the submission or by a hearing requested by the lawyers. - CNA/vm
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