In an unexpected move, prosecutors in the sex-for-contracts trial involving former anti-narcotics chief Ng Boon Gay yesterday turned against their own star witness.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Tan Ken Hwee accused former IT sales manager Cecilia Sue of lying, given the wide discrepancies between what she told investigators and what she has said in court. As a result of the turn of events, Ms Sue will be in court for a fifth day on Tuesday, and will be questioned again by Ng's lawyer, Senior Counsel Tan Chee Meng.
Ms Sue, 36, said in statements to the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) that she and Ng had been lovers between 2009 and late 2010. When she became pregnant, she wondered if the baby might be his.
But under questioning by defence counsel last week, she insisted that there was never any relationship, and said Ng had forced her to perform oral sex on him.
On Monday, DPP Tan accused her of being so anxious to save her marriage that she had not been truthful about her affair with Ng, 46, the former Central Narcotics Bureau chief.
The DPP then took the unusual step of asking District Judge Siva Shanmugam to let him cross-examine his own witness.
What usually happens in court is that after a prosecution witness is grilled by the defence, the prosecution gets to clarify points, and wrap up its witness' testimony.
Cross-examining Ms Sue, the DPP spoke in raised tones as he referred to extracts of her statements to the CPIB.
He put it to her that she had a sexual relationship with Ng, and had tried to end it in September or October 2010.
But Ms Sue still denied this, and continued to maintain that she and Ng were only friends and there had been no sex.
