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JOY AND TEARS: Mr Ding's friends clapped when the verdict was announced. His weeping mother cried out: 'My son, my son! your life has been so tough!' -- ST PHOTO: WONG KWAI CHOW
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SITTING up straight in the dock, former teacher William Ding choked back tears yesterday as an appeals judge acquitted him of molesting two schoolboys.
It was three years to the day since the allegations against the 36-year-old surfaced when the boys met their principal.
First suspended from teaching, he eventually resigned last December. Convicted last March, he faced a year in jail.
On hearing that he was a free man, Mr Ding appeared stunned at Judge of Appeal V.K. Rajah's decision.
The judge had 'real doubts' about whether the two boys' inconsistent and contradictory evidence was reliable enough to convict him.
In the public gallery, Mr Ding's mother sobbed on hearing the news, burying her face in her husband's chest.
More than 50 supporters, mainly church friends and relatives, broke into clapping.
His face flush with emotion as he walked out of the dock, Mr Ding got his first hug from his lawyers. He started sobbing when he reached his family and friends.
As he hugged his weeping mother, she cried out in Mandarin: 'My son, my son! Your life has been so tough!'
He told The Straits Times that the trial had weighed heavily on his parents.
'My mother was frustrated because she knew I was innocent, yet she felt that justice was so slow in coming,' he said.
Outside the courtroom, he told reporters: 'I'm thankful that I'm vindicated officially after three long years. It has been a long journey, a lot of pain for me and those around me.'
In 2005, four secondary schoolboys accused him of molesting them in separate incidents between 2001 and 2005 while he was in charge of their sports team.
He denied the accusations and fought the case in an 80-day trial that spanned nine months. He was convicted and sentenced to a year's jail, but appealed.
The appeal was first heard on April 9 in an unusually long seven-hour session.
His lawyer, Senior Counsel Engelin Teh, argued that he had been 'unjustly convicted' on flimsy and uncorroborated evidence.
She attacked the boys' credibility, saying they had colluded to cook up the allegations as they were unhappy with him for being too strict.
During the hearing, Justice Rajah raised several issues, such as whether the trial judge had erred in her treatment of what amounted to corroborated evidence.
Yesterday, both sides argued for another five hours, addressing these issues again.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Leong Wing Tuck defended the trial judge's decision, saying she was correct in finding no collusion among the boys.
In the end, the case turned on the unreliable testimony of the two boys and the judge said he had no alternative but to set aside the conviction.
He found that the case against Mr Ding was 'fraught with serious internal inconsistencies and irreconcilable material contradictions'.
In cases of such a nature, the complainant's testimony must be either 'unusually convincing' or sufficiently corroborated to prove the prosecution's case beyond a reasonable doubt.
'I am not convinced that the testimonies of the two complainants can be characterised or viewed as 'unusually convincing'. That would be a stretch of both fact and logic,' he said.
'In addition, the corroboration relied upon by the lower court was, at best, of a dubious nature.'
Mr Ding told The Straits Times that over the last year, he has tried to fill his time with 'positive activities'. His lengthy case sparked his interest in the law and he did an internship at his lawyers' firm.
He also did internships at friends' businesses and took up some courses. He has set up a training consultancy firm with friends and is studying part-time for an MBA.
'The last few years have been a time for me to rethink and weigh my life again. I used to be quite a workaholic,' he admitted.
'Now, I know who the people who matter to me are, and I want to spend time with these people - my family and friends.
'I will spend my life celebrating.'
selinal@sph.com.sg
wycin@sph.com.sg
'I HAVE NO REGRETS', SINGAPORE
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