Wife's presence in public gallery a sign there would be no trial

Witnesses not allowed in court proceedings until they have finished giving evidence

The army of journalists outside the Supreme Court on Sept 24 were on the lookout for former transport minister S. Iswaran, but it was his wife, Ms Kay Mary Taylor, who walked past them at 7.50am.

Dressed in black, and accompanied by relatives, she moved straight in. The first day of her husband's scheduled trial was to take place in High Court 4C.

Ms Taylor was identified in earlier reports as one of 56 prosecution witnesses.

However, when the courtroom doors were opened to the public at 9.30am, she took a seat in the public gallery while Iswaran stood next to the dock and exchanged notes with his lawyers.

It sparked discussion among the more than 40 members of the public and journalists attending the hearing.

Witnesses are not allowed to attend court proceedings until they have finished giving evidence. They usually wait in a witness room until they have to take the stand.

At 10am, Justice Vincent Hoong started proceedings, and minutes later, Deputy Attorney-General Tai Wei Shyong revealed that Iswaran would be "taking a certain course of action" - an indication he was likely to plead guilty.

This meant that witnesses were spared the need to take the stand.