SINGAPORE – A woman who lied about her home address to enrol her daughter in a primary school lost her appeal to the High Court on April 22 against her one-week jail term.
Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon dismissed the woman’s appeal for a $9,100 fine and upheld the sentence handed down by a district judge in November 2025.
He said that if he had heard the case at the start, he would have imposed a lengthier jail term.
The 42-year-old woman pleaded guilty in September 2025 to a charge of giving false information to public servants and another charge of giving false information when reporting her change of address.
She cannot be named due to a gag order to protect her daughter’s identity. The order covers the name of the school and the personnel involved.
In 2025, both the prosecution and the woman, who was then unrepresented, sought a fine before the district court.
On April 22, she engaged a lawyer to argue her case at the appeal hearing.
The prosecution submitted that the one-week jail term imposed by District Judge Sharmila Sripathy-Shanaz was justified after studying her written decision, and did not seek a heavier sentence.
