Woman told then colleague to hit her and lied to cops that ex-boyfriend committed the assault

Source: The Straits Times
Author: Shaffiq Alkhatib

SINGAPORE - A director at an employment agency told one of her colleagues to hit her before repeatedly lying to the authorities that her former boyfriend had assaulted her.

Sophia Gill, 53, who is also a shareholder at Raffles Human Resource, roped in another then colleague, Nicole Chng Jin Wen, 28, and told the younger woman to memorise a false account that Gill's former boyfriend had purportedly assaulted both of them.

The two women lodged false police reports on May 24, 2017, and Gill even repeated similar lies to a magistrate

Due to these complaints, police officers recorded three statements from the former boyfriend, the court heard.

On March 4, Gill was sentenced to three months' jail after she pleaded guilty to one count each of giving false information to a public servant and intentionally giving false evidence during a judicial proceeding.

Two other counts of giving false information to a public servant were considered during sentencing.

Chng, who was an admin officer at Raffles Human Resource at the time of the offences, was sentenced to six weeks' jail in September 2023 after she admitted to offences including giving false information to a police officer.

Court documents did not disclose if any action has been taken against the then colleague who had rained blows on Gill.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Tan Pei Wei said that Gill and her former boyfriend, 42, were in a relationship from 2015, and they began running a restaurant in Bali Lane, near Arab Street, the following year.

The couple broke up soon after, and he married another woman in January 2017.

Despite this, Gill and the man made multiple police reports against each other from March 31 to May 2017 over alleged instances of harassment and assault.

On April 11 that year, he obtained an expedited protection order against Gill to prevent her from contacting him and his wife. The order is issued when there is an imminent danger to the parties involved.

The order expired on May 8 that year, and he was granted another one 15 days later.

But Gill and Chng turned up at the restaurant at around 5pm on May 23, and the former lovers had a verbal dispute.

The man repeatedly told the two women to leave the eatery, but the pair refused. He then stepped out and locked the main door of the restaurant, leaving them inside.