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SINGAPORE : The High Court has overturned the conviction of the ex-teacher found guilty of molesting two school boys.
36-year-old William Ding Chun Fong had been sentenced in March last year to 12 months jail on three charges of molest.
Overturning the District Court's ruling, Justice VK Rajah held the case was fraught with serious inconsistencies and irreconcilable material contradictions.
For example, the alleged molestation at Toa Payoh Swimming Complex in 2001. The High Court had found that the evidence given by one of the boys was contradicted by other witnesses.
The defence argued that there were inconsistencies in the evidence of the other school boy on whether he had shared a sleeping bag with Ding at a sports training camp in 2004.
The defence also argued that the trial judge failed to consider how the boy's claim, that Ding had massaged his shoulders in 2004, had changed a few times.
The High Court agreed. Ding and his family cried when the judge granted the appeal.
"I thank God for making this happen and I am also very thankful for my lawyers," said Ding.
"There will always be discrepancies in any court, (and) evidence will never be perfect," said Engelin Teh, Ding's lawyer.
Justice Rajah said, in his brief grounds of decision, that the prosecution must prove its case beyond reasonable doubt. He added that he had real doubts if the boys' evidence was sufficiently reliable to sustain the conviction.
The court also addressed a point made by the trial judge who had described the testimonies of the two school boys as "unusually convincing". Justice Rajah said that "would be a stretch of both fact and logic".
The closely-watched trial in the District Court had originally lasted more than 80 days spanning over nine months.
Ding, who has left the teaching career, now plans to be a trainer or consultant. - CNA /ls
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