ARRANGEMENTS can be made by the prison authorities to allow compassionate visits by a convicted cigarette smuggler to see his ailing wife.

In his appeal against sentence on Thursday, Lee Koon Chye told Chief Justice Chan Sek Keong that he did not know his wife was sick before he pleaded guilty to various charges in August.

Pleading for the shortest sentence possible, the 44-year-old said there was no one to look after his wife, who is suffering from cervical cancer, and his two daughters, aged four and 12.

The unemployed man is currently serving a 39-month three-stroke sentence and will be banned from driving for two years upon his release.

He had admitted to being involved in delivering 510kg of duty-unpaid cigarettes, obstructing customs officers, three driving-related offences and vandalism in Hougang on May 20.

In court, Lee, who was unrepresented, asked that he be released on bail for a while to look after his family and then return to complete his sentence.

'I am deeply remorseful and I wasn't really aware that my wife was so seriously ill,' he said.

After the lunch break, Deputy Public Prosecutor Gillian Koh Tan informed the court that in view of the wife's medical condition, the prison authorities would be prepared to arrange for Lee to see his wife in hospital if necessary.

Lee would also be eligible for home detention by July, she said.

In addition, Lee's family could get financial help and child care support from the prison's family resource centre. A prison counsellor will be assigned to enable him to better cope with his family circumstances.