Ng Beng Kiat v Public Prosecutor

• Jurisdiction: Singapore
• Judge: Karthigesu JA
• Judgment Date: 10 August 1995
• Neutral Citation: [1995] SGCA 61
• Docket Number: Criminal Appeal No 13 of 1995
• Date: 10 August 1995
• Published date: 19 September 2003
• Year: 1995
• Plaintiff Counsel: JB Jeyaretnam (JB Jeyaretnam & Co) and Christina Goh Siok Leng (Christina Goh & Co)
• Citation: [1995] SGCA 61
• Defendant Counsel: Ong Chin Rhu (Deputy Public Prosecutor)
• Court: Court of Appeal (Singapore)
• Subject Matter: Common intention to cause bodily harm,ss 34 & 300(c) Penal Code (Cap 224),Murder,Offences,Whether there was intention to cause the fatal injuries,Criminal Law,Whether intention to cause the fatal injuries must be shared by the assailants,Fatal injuries inflicted in furtherance of the common intention

The appellant, Ng Beng Kiat, was convicted of the following charge:

You, Ng Beng Kiat, are charged that you, on or about 5 January 1994 between 9.20pm and 9.50pm in lift `B` of Blk 34, Teban Gardens Rd, Singapore, together with two other persons and in furtherance of the common intention of you all, did commit murder by causing the death of one Chia Lap Lai, and you have thereby committed an offence punishable under s 302 read with s 34 of the Penal Code (Cap 224).

Being 17 years of age at the time of the offence, the appellant was sentenced to be detained at the President`s pleasure pursuant to s 213 of the Criminal Procedure Code (Cap 68). We dismissed his appeal against his conviction and sentence at the end of the hearing. We now give our reasons.

The prosecution case

Chia Lap Lai (the deceased), Aik Kah Hwee (Aik) and Ng Hui Leong (Ng) used to play basketball at a basketball court beside Blk 44 Teban Gardens Rd (Blk 44). In 1993, they met and got to know at the basketball court some members of the Tiong Meng Kok secret society, including the appellant, Soo Kian Fung (Chien Fung) and Ong Chee Hoe (Ah How). The deceased and his friends were invited to join the secret society but they declined to do so. Instead, they joined a rival gang called the Pak Hai Tong secret society in August 1993. Prior to the tragedy, a member of the appellant`s gang, Tung Chee Kong, was beaten up by the deceased and his two friends. The incident caused some friction between the two rival groups.

On 5 January 1994, the deceased, Ng and Aik met at a coffee shop at Blk 49 Teban Gardens Rd. At about 9.20pm, they walked home together. As they were walking, they noticed the appellant and his friends near the basketball court. At the foot of Blk 48 Teban Gardens Rd (Blk 48), Ng and Aik parted with the deceased to take the lift to their respective homes in the building. Alone, the deceased continued walking towards Blk 34 Teban Gardens Rd (Blk 34), the building in which he lived. When the deceased got into a lift at Blk 34, the appellant, Chien Fung and Ah How, each armed with a wooden stick, rushed in after him and attacked him. Each of the wooden sticks was about two and a half feet long. The deceased collapsed from the assault.

Another group of youths, namely, Chan Hiang Heng, Siew Kok Pieng and Tan Chak Wee were present at the fitness corner near the basketball court that night. They gave evidence that, while the deceased was walking alone and unarmed towards Blk 34, the appellant and his friends headed towards the deceased. The bystanders suspected that the appellant and his friends were going after the deceased and tried to warn him [the deceased] by shouting out his name. Unfortunately, the deceased did not hear them. Subsequently, they heard noises from the lift at Blk 34. Shortly after, they also saw the appellant, Chien Fung and Ah How fleeing from Blk 34.

The deceased died in hospital while receiving emergency medical treatment. Dr Wee Keng Poh (Dr Wee), a consultant forensic pathologist who performed the autopsy, testified that the deceased sustained multiple external injuries all over his body. Most serious of all were the injuries to the head region. There were two linear fracture lines in the base of the skull with bleeding in the brain. There were extensive contusions on the right side of the brain, with bleeding in the substance of the brain underneath the area of the bruising. The cause of death was contused brain due to a fractured skull. Dr Wee opined that the injuries were caused by blows to the head by a blunt instrument, like a stick. The injuries to the head were sufficient in the ordinary course of nature to cause death.

Two statements of the appellant were admitted into evidence without challenge. In his s 122(6) statement, the appellant expressed remorse. He also said:

I have no intention of killing him. I merely wanted to teach him a lesson ... During the fight I managed to snatch the wooden stick from him and I used it to hit him several times ...

In his long statement recorded on 2 September 1994, the appellant described the attack in detail. In particular, he said:

3 ... I saw `Li Li` [the deceased] standing at the open space between Blks 45 and 34 Teban Gardens Rd about 30 or 40m away from us. He was holding a wooden stick of about 3ft long in his right hand. On seeing us, he gestured us by raising his left hand. Chien Fung (Soo Kian Fong), Ah How (Ong Chee Hoe) and I rushed over to the Electricity Power Room beside Blk 44 Teban Gardens Rd to get ourselves armed with a wooden stick each. There were a few sticks lying outside the Electricity Power Room near to the drain. The stick which I was armed with was about 21/2ft in length. The three of us then charged at `Li Li`. `Li Li`, however, started to run to Blk 34 Teban Gardens Rd. We chased him. He was still armed with the wooden stick.

4 We managed to confront `Li Li` outside one of the lifts at the ground floor of Blk 34 Teban Gardens Rd. The lift is nearer to Blk 45. We disturbed him by waving our sticks. Just then, the lift door opened. `Li Li` dashed into the lift. Chien Fung (Soo Kian Fong), Ah How (Ong Chee Hoe) and I also rushed into the lift. The three of us then attacked him with the sticks inside the lift. The lift door was still open. I do not know which part of the body I hit him. It was then a commotion. I also do...