Orchard Towers murder: One of the seven accused walks free

Singapore — One of the seven people initially charged with murder has walked free after being given a year-long conditional warning on Thursday (Oct 15) on a reduced charge of consorting with a person possessing an offensive weapon.

The group had attacked 31-year-old Satheesh Noel Gobidass at Orchard Towers on the early morning of July 2, 2019. The police were alerted at 6.25 am and the victim was sent to Tan Tock Seng Hospital unconscious and pronounced dead an hour later.

Chan Jia Xing, 27, must remain crime-free for 12 months or he can be prosecuted again for the consorting charge and the new offence.

He was accused of consorting with Tan Sen Yang, 28, who allegedly had a foldable karambit — a small curved knife resembling a claw — while he was at the Naughty Girl Club in Orchard Towers that morning.

Chan was initially charged with murder along with Natalie Siow, 24; Tan Hong Sheng, 22; Loo Boon Chong, 27; Tan Sen Yang, 28; Joel Tan Yun Sheng, 26; and Ang Da Yuan, 26.

The charges were later reduced for all, except in the case of Tan Seng Yang.

Three others of the seven have been sentenced.

The sole woman in the group, Natalie Siow, pleaded guilty last week to consorting with Tan Sen Yang and was sentenced to five months in jail.

Two of the accused were dealt with in March 2020. Joel Tan Yun Sheng was jailed for four weeks after pleading guilty to voluntarily causing hurt to the victim by common intention and Ang Da Yuan was sentenced to eight months in jail and six strokes of the cane. He pleaded guilty to voluntarily causing hurt to the victim by kicking and punching him and to consorting with Tan Sen Yang.

The cases of the remaining two individuals — Tan Hong Sheng, 22, and Loo Boon Chong, 27 — are still pending.

Those convicted of consorting with a person carrying an offensive weapon face a maximum of three years in jail and at least six strokes of the cane.

Of the seven, only Tan Sen Yang now faces the murder charge. /TISG