London-born Ye Ming Yuen, 29, has been sentenced to 20 years in one of the Asian city-state's most brutal prisons for selling crystal meth and cannabis to his friends.
Yuen, 29, who went to a £37,000-a-year Westminster school, will reportedly be stripped naked and strapped to a large wooden trestleThe club DJ, who attended the posh £37,000-a-year Westminster School, will be given little warning of being caned and admits he is medicating himself to deal with his constant state of anxiety.
He told the Daily Mail: “Of course, I’m scared. I’ve heard so many horror stories from fellow inmates who have been caned, of scars left on them, of canes breaking during the punishment and having to be replaced and how, after every few strokes, the caner is replaced to ensure each stroke is of the same intensity.”
Yuen said he is practising breathing exercises to deal with the pain and hopes he doesn’t pass out during the beating – as that will postpone the violent punishment to a later date.
He added: “I know the skin normally tears after three strokes and that it will be very painful.”
After every few strokes, the caner is replaced to ensure each stroke is of the same intensity
His tough sentence has forced the intervention of Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt and officials who have insisted they "strongly oppose the use of corporal punishment".
Yuen has also hit out at the “excessive” punishment claiming a “child rapist” in Singapore can get 18 strokes of the cane – while he is getting 24.
He is writing to Singapore’s President pleading for a reduced sentence of eight years and “fewer strokes of the cane.”
Indeed, Yuen is a first time drug offender in the country who was caught with a small amount of drugs.
In the UK he would have been jailed for around one year.
But in Singapore, infamous for its zero tolerance to drugs and low levels of crime, dealing meth comes with serious consequences.
I know the skin normally tears after three strokes and that it will be very painful
Yuen has been in the brutal Changi prison since February last year after being arrested for "repeat druig trafficking" in August 2016.
He sleeps on a bamboo mat on a concrete floor in a cell he shares with three others – spending 22 hours a day in the room which has no windows.
The young Brit is allowed two visits from family and friends per month – which involves a 20 minute chat behind a glass screen.
He is not allowed to touch his visitors, who he talks to via a telephone, or the glass barrier.
His father, 70, who has been refused a visa to visit Singapore, admits his son is a “criminal” but is appealing for a lesser sentence.
BEATEN WITH MAXIMUM FORCE
- As part of his sentence, Yuen will be taken from his cell without prior warning and taken to the prison’s “punishment room”.
- He will then be stripped naked, strapped to a wooden trestle and violently trashed with a 4ft-long ratten cane across his buttocks.
- Two officers take turns to meet out the terrifying punishment to ensure each stroke is delivered with maximum force and intensity.
- It is not uncommon for a prisoner to pass out during the beating.
He told the Mail: “My son is a criminal. He knows that. He knows he has to serve time. But the issue is his sentence, which is excessive.”
Mr Yuen claims his son was selling drugs to up to seven “rich” friends who had introduced him to “drugs, drinking and gambling” in Singapore.
He added that his son has cooperated with police and gave them the name of his supplier – a move which “put him at risk of reprisals.”
APPEAL FOR CLEMENCY
Mr Yuen said that he was encouraged about the Foreign Secretary’s statement about his son’s case.
He said: “The British Government and the British High Commission here have been very supportive.
“They sent me cards and presents at Christmas.”
It has since emerged that in 2007 a teenage Yuen fled to Singapore after being hunted by Scotland Yard over an alleged forged driving licence ID scam.
The then 17-year-old would allegedly sell the fake IDs to underage pupils at his posh school enabling them to buy booze and cigarettes.
FELL IN WITH THE 'WRONG CROWD'
He moved to mother’s native Singapore to work for his uncle who owned a nightclub.
Yuen, who achieved 11 GCSEs while at the Westminster School, claims he was "misled in my youth" after falling in with the "wrong crowd".
Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt raised Yuen's case with Singapore's Minister for Foreign Affairs Vivian Balakrishnan while visiting the country last week, it's claimed, and Foreign Office officials have made representations on the British man's behalf.
In a statement, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office said: "Our consular staff have been assisting a British man and his family since his arrest in Singapore in 2016. We strongly oppose the use of corporal punishment, such as caning, in all cases."
A spokesman for the Singapore High Commission in London told the Mail that Singapore uses the "strictest enforcement" and "severest penalties" in drug offences to protect the welfare of the public and to "raise our children in a safe oasis".
The Sun Online has approached the Foreign Office and and the High Commission for comment.
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