THE prison inmate who got three more strokes of the cane than he was supposed to is taking his case for compensation to court.

His lawyer, noting the lack of precedents for the case, said a court hearing 'will provide an opportunity to introduce case law references, not just from the UK but from the American courts as well'.

This move by Dickson Tan and his lawyer follows failed mediation talks. Three rounds of discussions with the Attorney-General's Chambers (AGC) failed to produce an agreement on the amount he should get.

Tan, 20, was sentenced in February last year to a total of nine months' jail and five lashes of the cane for offences involving abetting an illegal moneylender in harassing a debtor.

The following month, he was caned eight times by mistake.

The Government acknowledged the error and expressed regret, but at issue then was the amount of compensation Tan should get.

In Parliament last July, Law Minister S. Jayakumar, who is also Deputy Prime Minister, said the authorities had decided to compensate Tan well before his mother threatened legal action.

Once the error was confirmed, the AGC and the Subordinate Courts initiated discussions.

Tan's family indicated before these mediation talks that they would settle if an offer of $300,000 was made.

But apparently, there was a gap between the Government's offer and what the Tans were eventually prepared to accept.

Mediation sessions, as well as the terms arising from the discussions, are confidential.

The family's lawyer, Mr Joseph Chen, said on Thursday that it was 'not feasible' to accept the offer made by the AGC.

Read the full report in Friday's edition of The Straits Times.