Man who tried to rape former flatmate gets heavier sentence after losing appeal

SINGAPORE — A 32-year-old man who tried to rape a former flatmate failed in his appeal for a retrial, and instead had his jail term increased by just over a year for the "troubling" way he had argued his appeal.

Gao Xiong, who was a PhD student at the time of his offences, was originally sentenced on Dec 1, 2025, by the High Court to six years, six months and six weeks' jail, as well as three strokes of the cane.

He was represented by a lawyer when he pleaded guilty to one count of attempted rape and three counts of criminal trespass.

At his appeal hearing on May 12, the Chinese national, who did not have a lawyer, claimed that he was "confused" when he pleaded guilty and that he was not given the opportunity to address the court.

Gao also blamed the victim for causing him to perpetuate the crime. He even tried to blame her flatmate, who had dragged him away from the woman, claiming that the intervention prevented him from apologising to the victim.

On July 3, the Court of Appeal increased Gao's jail term to seven years, seven months and six weeks.

The jail term for the attempted rape charge was raised from six years and six months to seven years and seven months. The six-week jail term for the most serious trespass charge was unchanged.

The court, comprising Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon, Justice Tay Yong Kwang and Justice Hri Kumar Nair, found it appropriate to enhance Gao's sentence on account of his conduct, which "plainly constituted an abuse of the court's process".

The court said Gao had sought to undermine the integrity and propriety of the High Court proceedings during which he pleaded guilty by making baseless claims.

There was no doubt that the High Court judge was meticulous and took all necessary steps to ensure that he fully understood the charges and the statement of facts that he fully accepted.

The court noted that Gao was represented by a lawyer at the time, and that an interpreter was present to ensure that he understood the proceedings.

When Gao appeared unclear, the judge stood down the proceedings so that his lawyer could speak to him to confirm that he wished to plead guilty, the court pointed out.

"It is evident from the appellant's conduct in the appeal that he utterly lacked any insight into or remorse for his offending behaviour," the court added.

Aside from trying to shift the blame to others, Gao also downplayed the harm which he had caused to the victim.

Gao and the victim, a Chinese national completing her tertiary studies in Singapore at the time of the offences, used to live in separate rooms in a condominium unit, alongside other tenants.

He was already living there when the victim, who was then 22 years old, moved in on July 10, 2023.

Gao moved out at the end of August 2023.

In early October 2023, he began texting her to ask her out.

She rejected him and told him to stop bothering her, but he continued to pester her.

On Oct 8, 2023, when he returned to the unit to look for her, she called the police.

Gao left when the police arrived, but remained at the bus stop outside overnight, and continued to send her text messages.

The next day, Oct 9, the victim decided to stay in her room.

Gao returned to the unit that night and was let in by one of the tenants.

After the victim opened her room door in response to his knocks, he told her he had left his bank card in the unit and said he wanted to apologise for his angry texts the night before.

She rejected the apology and said she would be calling the police. The woman tried to close the door, but he forced his way into the room.

He pushed her to the floor, pulled at her dress and exposed himself.

On hearing the victim's screams, one of the other tenants dragged Gao out of her room.

Gao remained in the unit, and the victim eventually got one of her roommates to call the police.

Gao was initially remanded after he was charged on Oct 11, 2023, with attempted rape.

After he was bailed out on May 2, 2024, he committed further incidents of trespass.

On May 10, 2024, while he was at the State Courts for a pre-trial conference, he insisted on speaking to the judge who was in a separate room.

Ignoring a "no entry" sign, he entered a room marked Chamber 8-40 and left only when a staff member went to get help. At some point, the panic alarm was activated.

He also returned to the condo unit in an attempt to persuade his victim to withdraw her allegations against him.

On May 5, 2024, he was told that she had moved out. He went back again on May 26, 2024, to get her contact number, but to no avail.

Gao was remanded again on May 31, 2024, after his bailor discharged himself.

Sentencing framework

In its judgment, the Court of Appeal also established a three-stage framework for judges in sentencing criminal attempt offences.

The first stage is to determine the starting sentence by considering the actual steps taken in the attempt.

Next, the judge should determine the discount to be given based on the progress of the attempt and whether the offender voluntarily stopped his actions or was prevented by external factors.

Finally, the sentence should be adjusted based on aggravating or mitigating factors specific to each offender.

Gao's case is the first matter before the apex court involving a criminal attempt offence after the Penal Code was amended to abolish the statutory one-half sentencing limit for criminal attempt offences.

Previously, the imprisonment term that can be imposed on a person who tries but fails to commit an offence was capped at half the maximum sentence of a completed offence.

Courts are no longer bound by this rule. The law now states that attempts with no explicit punishment provision shall be "punished with such punishment as is prescribed for that offence".

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This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.