Singapore silent on UK caning plea

Singapore has not yet responded to a request by the British High Commission to waive the caning of a British national, the Foreign Office said yesterday, writes Annika Savill.

A Singapore court sentenced Emmanuel Yankson in February to four years in prison for theft and burglary, and three strokes of the cane for overstaying his visa by three years. The High Commission requested clemency in April.

The British Government will not ask Singapore to cancel the caning of a Hong Kong teenager, Shiu Chi Ho, until all legal avenues are exhausted, the Foreign Office said. Shiu, 17, was sentenced on Thursday by a district court to 12 strokes of the rattan cane and eight months' imprisonment for spray-painting cars with an American youth, Michael Fay, who last month was sentenced to six strokes.