Love triangle case: Businessman has charge of conspiring to grievously hurt mistress' boyfriend withdrawn

SINGAPORE: A businessman who was sentenced to six years' jail in May 2019 after being convicted of ordering a hit on his mistress' boyfriend will no longer have to be imprisoned.

Lim Hong Liang, 57, was given a discharge not amounting to an acquittal on Wednesday (Jul 14) for one charge of engaging in a conspiracy to voluntarily cause grievous hurt to Joshua Koh Kian Yong.

Lim had contested the charge initially but was found guilty in a district court in April 2019 of hiring hitmen to attack Mr Koh. 

READ: Love triangle trial: Businessman found guilty of hiring hitmen to slash two-timing beauty queen's lover

Mr Koh was dating Lim's mistress, former Miss Mermaid 30-year-old Audrey Chen Ying Fang. Lim, who was married, met Ms Chen in 2014 and entered into an intimate relationship with her. He lavished gifts on her including a car, a domestic helper's services and the use of a condominium unit.

When Lim found out that Ms Chen was seeing banquet waiter Mr Koh, he wanted to teach Mr Koh a lesson, the court heard at the time.

Lim was accused of paying hitmen S$5,000 to scar Mr Koh, who was married to a Thai woman. Mr Koh was attacked twice - first punched and kicked until his nose was fractured and his face was swollen and bleeding, then slashed outside an eatery over his lips. 

The scar over his mouth is likely to remain permanent, previous court documents indicated.

Lim appealed to the High Court against the sentence and conviction, and the court ordered a retrial after the defence argued that prosecutors had failed to disclose a witness statement in the case.

Justice Aedit Abdullah had found contradictions between this statement and the court testimony given by a prosecution witness who was the essential link between Lim and those who committed the assault.

"In preparing for the retrial, the prosecution reviewed the available evidence and decided to discontinue the criminal proceedings against Lim, and to administer a conditional warning to him instead," said a spokesperson for the Attorney-General's Chambers (AGC) in a statement on Wednesday night.

"These conditions include Lim not reoffending within a 36-month period, as well as compensating the victim for his medical costs and the pain and suffering for his injuries."

She added that if Lim breaches any of the conditions to his warning, the charge against him may be revived.

The charge of conspiring to cause grievous hurt was punishable by a maximum term of life imprisonment, a fine, or caning.

Seven men were taken to court over this case; they received sentences of up to 14-and-a-half years' jail, and a few of them receiving caning.