Singaporean teenager who threatened to kill EPL footballer sentenced to 9 months’ probation

Singapore — A teenager in Singapore has been sentenced to nine months of probation and 40 hours of community service on Wednesday, Jul 7 as he threatened to kill English Premier League (EPL) footballer Neal Maupay and his family.

When Derek Ng De Ren, now 19, made the death threats in Jun and Jul of last year, the player and his family were reported to be in Britain. He was charged for sending the threats on Instagram to the French football player.

Ng sent the death threats after watching a match last year on Jun 20, in which Maupay scored the winning goal against Arsenal. He also blamed Maupay for the Arsenal goalkeeper’s injury.

As part of his probation, Ng must stay indoors from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. daily and complete 40 hours of community service. To assure his good behaviour, his mother was bonded for $5,000.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Jeremy Bin informed the jury that the player was distressed as a result of Ng’s messages, believing the teenager’s threats to be legitimate and credible.

Ng posted threatening messages from an anonymous account on the social media platform Instagram. According to DPP Bin, “The accused, an Arsenal supporter was angered by the victim’s goal and Arsenal FC’s loss. He also blamed the victim for the Arsenal goalkeeper’s injury.”

One of Ng messages was, “You think you will get away for injuring Leno? No way in hell bruv… But don’t worry you will be safe you won’t be hurt. It’s more fun watching you feel pain when your loved ones go through suffering.”

The court heard that Maupay did not reply to the messages, but instead made a report of the incident to EPL’s online abuse reporting system. Instagram then took the action of blocking Ng’s anonymous account.

On Jul 1, last year, Ng created a new anonymous Instagram account and sent Maupay another text, “You think by reporting my account you’re safe? I will kill you and your family.”

The EPL official in Singapore notified the authorities on Aug 11, last year, which resulted in the investigation of Derek Ng De Ren’s case.

Divyanshi Singh is an intern at The Independent SG /TISG