But the trial of American business consultant Tom Chong Kee, 39, could not proceed on Thursday - because of his choice of lawyer.

Mr M. Ravi had represented Tom when the trial started in Aug but the prosecution applied to get him discharged on the grounds that the lawyer, charged with creating a disturbance at a mosque, had been deemed unfit by another district court last month to conduct his own defence.

Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Andre Moses Tan asked whether it was appropriate for him to be defending someone else.

Arguing against the application, Mr Ravi said that he had recently acted for several clients in the Family Court and at pre-trial conferences in the Subordinate Courts, and the prosecutors in those cases had not raised objections.

'It's therefore strange for the deputy public prosecutor to suddenly declare that I might be unfit to represent my client now,' he said.

District Judge Roy Neighbour adjourned the hearing to allow DPP Tan to confirm the provision of the Legal Profession Act he was citing to get Mr Ravi discharged.

When court proceedings resumed in the afternoon, Mr Tan said he was withdrawing the application. He did not elaborate.

By then, Tom had indicated that he was prepared to admit to the offences of which he had been accused.

He pleaded guilty to forging the signatures of his wife Michele Elena Cabasug, 32, also an American citizen, and her supposedly boyfriend Ari Ruoppa, in an application to SingPost to redirect their mail to his address.

Court documents said Ms Cabasug stopped receiving mail in Feb.

Mr Ruoppa, 50, a Finnish national, went to the police in Apr; investigations revealed that Tom had fraudulently applied to the Tanglin Post Office on Jan 29 to redirect mail addressed to Kheam Hock Road to his mailing address in Far East Finance Building in Robinson Road.

Tom also pleaded guilty to sending a text message to Mr Ruoppa, a company director, in Apr, threatening him with death for having 'abducted' his two children.

Tom and his wife have a boy and a girl, aged 21/2 and 11/2.

Tom also faces three charges of with having sent abusive text messages to Ms Sally Anne Kelly-Spika, a friend of Ms Cabasug's, accusing her of hiding his children from him.

But these three charges will not be proceeded against him; they will be considered by the judge during sentencing.

Tom will be sentenced next Tuesday.

He could be fined and/or jailed for up to two years on each charge.