Man sentenced to jail 'proud' to be released 'accidentally' due to State Courts error
A man who was sentenced to jail was mistakenly freed due to an administrative error in the State Courts.
Stomper Muhammad believes he is the first person in Singapore to be "accidentally" released from imprisonment.
"I'm proud," said the 32-year-old Singaporean, whose full name is Muhammad Fathurrahman Bin Mohd Adzlan.
"I feel God blessed me. Let the world know."
Muhammad said he was charged for an altercation with the police in Pasir Ris in July 2025 and had pleaded guilty.
"And now I finished everything, and I'm a free man now," he said.
In response to a Stomp query, a Singapore Courts spokesperson said Muhammad was sentenced in the State Courts on Oct 27, 2025, to 32 weeks' imprisonment for two offences.
"Due to an error in the preparation of the Warrant of Commitment, in that sentences ordered to run consecutively were mistakenly recorded as having been ordered to run concurrently, the aggregate sentence was reflected as 20 weeks' imprisonment," explained the spokesperson.
This resulted in Muhammad being released on the day of his sentencing after the court took into account the length of time he had spent in remand.
"The error was identified promptly and Mr Muhammad Fathurrahman was contacted, upon which he voluntarily returned to court on Oct 31 to serve out his remaining sentence," said the spokesperson.
Muhamammad has since completed serving his imprisonment term. The total time spent by him in custody, both before and after his return on Oct 27, complies with the imprisonment term ordered by the sentencing judge.
The spokesperson added: "This incident did not result in him serving any additional time in prison, nor did it result in the time spent by him in prison falling short of what had been ordered.
"The State Courts have taken this matter seriously and conducted a thorough review. Process improvements have been implemented to prevent similar administrative errors."
This was not Muhammad's first experience with Singapore Courts.
In March 2024, he was jailed 41 weeks for stalking his former counsellor and hurling insulting phrases at a preschool teacher.
The teacher had seen him loitering near the school multiple times before and sitting in a nearby park looking at the children, reported Channel NewsAsia.
When the teacher told Muhammad that he was scaring the children, he grew offended and asked loudly if she was a Malay-Muslim. The woman nodded in response.
He later returned and told her: "You terrorist, why work here? I complain about you."
Muhammad pleaded guilty to one charge each of unlawful stalking and intentionally causing harassment, alarm or distress.
In October 2022, he was jailed for six months after providing false information to the police that his aunt was making a bomb.
Muhammad pleaded guilty to one charge under the United Nations (Anti-terrorism Measures) Regulations of communicating false information to induce others to wrongly believe that a terrorist act was being carried out.
He also admitted to another offence of refusing to provide information to the police who needed to gain access to his mobile phone, reported Today.
In 2018, Muhammad was jailed one week for harassment offences and was sentenced to a 12-month mandatory treatment order, but he breached the order and was re-sentenced to jail.
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