On Tuesday, Judge of Appeal V.K. Rajah questioned why police had waited 15 years before charging a now 33-year-old port worker with drug trafficking.

Justice Rajah said the delay was a 'serious lapse' and threw into question a lower court conviction of Yunani Abdul Hamid, who was sentenced to nine years in jail and given six strokes of the cane last year.

'Why, despite surrendering himself a few hours after the incident, was the matter not proceeded with for 15 years?' asked Justice Rajah.

Yunani is the second man recently to appeal to Singapore's High Court after being convicted of a crime years after the allegations first came to light.

In October, Justice Rajah slashed a five-year prison sentence for a businessman implicated in a COE scandal to just two days.

Police waited for four years before charging the man in that case. In a written decision released last week, the court blasted justice officials for being 'lackadasical' and called their investigation 'slipshod.'

On Tuesday, Justice Rajah called the delay in Yunani's case 'a more serious lapse'.

Read the full story in Wednesday's edition of The Straits Times.