Jail for ex-prison officer who unlawfully accessed 34 inmates’ electronic records
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
Follow topic:
SINGAPORE – A prison officer unlawfully accessed the electronic records of 34 inmates at least 52 times between April 2022 and February 2023.
One of them was a female inmate, identified in court documents as A1, whom he had taken a fancy to and wanted to get to know better.
Ahmad Rihyad Abd Rahim, who was then holding the rank of Sergeant 2 with the Singapore Prison Service (SPS), committed the offences to satisfy his curiosity.
He also shared with others information that he had gathered on some inmates.
The 31-year-old former prison officer, who resigned on May 31, 2023, pleaded guilty to two computer misuse charges and was sentenced to eight weeks’ jail on May 27.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Matthew Choo told the court that before committing the offences, Ahmad was deployed to Institution S1A Correctional Unit at Selarang Park Complex in Upper Changi Road North.
As part of their jobs, prison officers could access a computer platform known as the Prisons Operations and Rehabilitation System (Ports2), which contains inmates’ confidential information.
The DPP stressed that the officers are authorised to access only the records of inmates under their charge.
On July 13, 2022, Ahmad accessed A1’s electronic records on Ports2 and obtained her inmate number.
She did not know him, and he only knew of her through his friends.
DPP Choo said: “The accused then sent A1 a request to send her an e-letter through the inmate number that he obtained on Ports2. The accused’s request was rejected by A1, and he was unable to send her any e-letters.
“Subsequently, the accused made further unauthorised accesses to the electronic records of A1 on Ports2 out of curiosity, including reading her e-letters.”
Ahmad unlawfully accessed A1’s electronic records on eight different occasions between July 13 and Sept 3, 2022, the court heard.
By committing the offences, he managed to find information, including the names of her visitors and her medical data.
Separately, Ahmad also unlawfully accessed the electronic records of more than 30 other inmates on over 40 different occasions between June 2022 and February 2023.
Among other things, he accessed two inmates’ electronic records after one of their friends asked him to check on the status of the pair’s incarceration.
The husbands of two other inmates had also asked for Ahmad’s help to find out the status of their wives’ incarcerations.
Ahmad then went on Ports2 before sharing the necessary information with the women’s husbands.
His offences came to light during a Ports2 audit check.
In a statement in April, SPS told The Straits Times that it lodged a police report on May 30, 2023 ,
Ahmad’s bail was set at $8,000 on May 27, and he is expected to surrender himself at the State Courts on July 1 to begin serving his sentence.
