Singapore judge doubles jail term for man who threw cats from Ang Mo Kio flats
CNA reported that the prosecution appealed for a longer sentence, calling the case 'cruel' and 'heinous' and saying the district judge had erred by placing too much weight on Lin's major depressive disorder.
'Animal cruelty has no place in a just and humane society and will be met with the full force of the law,' Justice Vincent Hoong said.
Lin, 33, had abused cats whenever he felt frustrated and would walk around Ang Mo Kio looking for community cats to harm.
He initially kicked the cats before abducting them in small waterproof bags with little air circulation, sometimes releasing them elsewhere or killing them.
Lin threw two cats off high floors of Housing and Development Board blocks, stepping hard on one cat while it was still alive.
Justice Hoong said the lower court's sentence was 'overly lenient' and had wrongly relied on unreported cases clustered at the lower end of sentencing guidelines.
He said the district judge had placed too much mitigating weight on Lin's major depressive disorder.
Lin pleaded guilty in October 2023 to three charges of animal cruelty, with two other charges taken into consideration.
The prosecution had initially sought 24 months' jail, while the district court sentenced Lin to 14 months after considering his mental health.
Second Chief Prosecutor Isaac Tan told the court that 'a mental condition cannot be a licence to harm others' and that the initial sentence 'is not one that advances the public interest.'
He added that animals are 'defenceless creatures' capable of pain and suffering, and that the cats were 'subjected to cruelty, tortured, killed' for Lin's 'depraved satisfaction.'
Defence lawyer Azri Imran Tan said Lin's actions were 'reprehensible' but argued the total sentence of 14 months was 'fair and just,' urging the court not to allow public emotion to influence the sentence.
Justice Hoong said the violence inflicted was deliberate and methodical, noting that the cats' deaths were 'violent and gruesome' and that the pain suffered by the cat that was stamped on was particularly severe.
He found that Lin was aware of his actions and capable of exercising self-control during the offences.
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