SINGAPORE – A teenager who took part in a knife attack that left two victims injured at the Rest Bugis Hotel in March was ordered to undergo another stint of reformative training on Nov 30.
This time round, the 19-year-old Indonesian, who cannot be named because of a gag order, will be detained in a centre for at least a year to observe a strict regimen that can include foot drills and counselling.
He had pleaded guilty in October to multiple charges, including assault, riding a motorcycle without a licence, and being a member of an unlawful assembly.
On Nov 30, he was also disqualified from holding or obtaining all classes of driving licences for 18 months from his date of release.
He was earlier ordered to undergo reformative training in an unrelated incident after he was convicted of offences, including dishonest misappropriation of property, in November 2019.
He was later released and made to wear an electronic tagging (e-tagging) device to monitor his movements.
Instead of behaving, he armed himself with a metal rod and, together with four other teenagers on July 25, 2021, confronted another group in Toa Payoh at around 2pm over a dispute involving vaporiser pods.
That same night, he cut off the strap of his e-tagging device at around 9pm.
He was arrested on July 26, 2021, and was expected to plead guilty in court on Dec 14, 2022, when he jumped bail. A warrant of arrest was issued against him.
At around midnight on March 27, 2023, one of his friends, Norliana Hazuliana, was in a room at the Rest Bugis Hotel in Jalan Kubor, near Arab Street, with a group of people when she got into a disagreement with a 20-year-old man.
Norliana, 24, was unhappy after the man told her she should not be with her boyfriend as he was in prison at the time.
She was on a video call with the Indonesian youth and one Mohammad Ghufran Sinarfadhli, 23, later that morning when the 20-year-old man interrupted the conversation and insulted the pair.
The prosecution told the court that Norliana then invited the Indonesian youth and Ghufran to the hotel room to teach the man a lesson.
Despite not having a motorcycle licence, the youth – who had packed a bag with two serrated knives – rode a motorcycle to the Kallang area, with Ghufran riding pillion.
The pair reached Rest Bugis Hotel at around 11am, and Norliana took them up to the room. She knocked on the door and a 19-year-old woman opened it.
The Indonesian teen slashed the woman twice with his knife before Norliana stopped him. He and Ghufran proceeded to attack the 20-year-old man before fleeing the scene.
An ambulance later took the male victim to Tan Tock Seng Hospital, and he was discharged four days later.
A medical report stated that injuries to his right knee joint and left hand may result in permanent disabilities.
After the attack, the teen was at the ground floor of a Kallang Bahru block of flats when he spotted police officers running towards him at around 4pm on March 27.
He was running away from them when he dropped a knife, and officers arrested him after a half-hour chase.
Police nabbed Ghufran the next day. The cases involving Ghufran and Norliana are pending.
Source : THE STRAITS TIMES
