Story By: Lee Bullen,Sub Editor: Joseph Golder,Agency: Asia Wire Report

A Singapore judge has acquitted an Australian woman accused of forcing her maid to clean a second-storey glass awning without safety measures in place.

The district judge ruled on 28th January that the Philippine maid, identified as Ms Taculad Rose Mae Mata, had given uncorroborated evidence of the incident and was not very convincing, according to reports.

As such, 37-year-old Australian national Belinda Huber, also known as Belinda Tran, was acquitted of one charge under the Employment of Foreign Manpower Act.

The Philippine maid accused Huber of failing to provide safe working conditions when she was instructed to clean the glass awning over the porch of her home on Goldhill Avenue in the area of Bukit Timah, according to local media.

The incident took place in summer 2017 and a photo of the maid carrying out the task, taken by the housekeeper of a neighbour, was posted online and went viral, according to local media.

Reports said the other maid, named Ms Villegas Lyn Balbao, testified in the case and claimed that the Philippine maid had expressed her intention to change employers as she was dissatisfied with her time with Uber.

District Judge Salina Ishak said that prosecutors had failed to establish their case beyond a reasonable doubt while adding that she found the maid unconvincing in her account, according to reports.

If she had been found guilty, the Australian defendant could have faced a one-month jail term and a fine of around 10,000 SGD (5,650 GBP), according to reports.

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