Fake Covid-19 vaccinations: Doc's police statements allowed in court

The doctor at the centre of a trial over fake Covid-19 jabs had voluntarily given his statements to the police without threat, inducement or promise, a district judge ruled on July 28.

- Christine Tan

Six of the police statements made by suspended doctor Jipson Quah, 37, which implicate his two co-accused, Iris Koh and Thomas Chua Cheng Soon, were deemed admissible in court.

District Judge Paul Quan found that the police officers whom Quah accused of inducing him to make those statements had not done so.

Delivering his remarks on July 28, Judge Quan said any sort of inducement could well have been self-perceived by Quah.

The ruling marks the end of the ancillary hearing, or a trial within a trial, to determine the admissibility of statements Quah gave to investigation officer (IO) Ng Shi-unn Jye from the Central Police Division.

The issue arose during the main trial concerning Quah, his former clinic assistant Chua, 43, and Koh, 49, founder of anti-vaccine group Healing the Divide.

The trio allegedly conspired to falsely inform the Health Promotion Board that patients had received Covid-19 vaccinations when they had not.

During the main trial, Quah sought to throw out six of his 11 police statements on the basis that they had been recorded under threat, inducement or promise by the authorities.

The disputed statements were recorded between Jan 22 and 29 in 2022.