One day after Michael Fay's lawyers made a final appeal to suspend the 18-year-old's caning sentence for vandalism in Singapore, a younger teen from Hong Kong accused of spray-painting cars with Fay was sentenced to twice as many lashes.
Shiu Chi Ho's sentence to 12 lashes "has generated considerable interest," says Ella Tam, a spokeswoman for Hong Kong's government. "But I don't think it has generated quite as much interest as in the States. In Hong Kong we had caning until about four years ago. And the Chinese are more used to harsh punishment."
Michael Fay's father, George Fay, says Shiu's sentence almost certainly eliminates any chance of clemency for his son.
Shiu "has been given a stiffer sentence to take away our argument that Mike has been singled out," says Fay, of Kettering, Ohio.
Shiu was convicted of four charges of vandalism. Fay was convicted of two charges.
George Fay predicted more leniency for Steven Freehill, another U.S. teen who is to be sentenced for vandalism soon. He says Singapore would not want to escalate the debate with another harsh sentence.
Many in the USA think a beating by a martial arts expert is just what the teen-ager, who has lived in Singapore with his mother and stepfather since 1992, deserves.
Thursday's Hard Copy television show reported that 45,000 people paid 50 cents each to add their opinion to a call-in poll. The response: 76% said Michael Fay should be caned. Last week 60,000 people responded when the show asked, "Should caning be allowed in the U.S.?" Ninety-one percent said yes.
The Ohio teen's lawyer, Theodore Simon, who submitted the final appeal to Singapore officials, says Fay would be at grave risk of committing suicide or turning into an "emotional cripple" if he receives six lashes of a cane on the bare buttocks. The punishment peels away flesh and often causes a person to go into shock.
Simon says attention-deficit disorder has rendered Fay less able to cope with stress.
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Fay, who pleaded guilty to vandalism, mischief and keeping stolen property, including traffic signs and Singapore flags, has completed three weeks of a four-month sentence. He also was fined $ 2,244.
Fay and Shiu, who got an eight-month sentence, say police coerced them into confessions. Police deny that. GRAPHIC: PHOTOS, b/w, Reuters (2)
