Public Prosecutor v Muhamad Hasik bin Sahar

• Jurisdiction: Singapore
• Judge: Tay Yong Kwang JC
• Judgment Date: 13 May 2002
• Neutral Citation: [2002] SGHC 105
• Date: 13 May 2002
• Subject Matter: Accused showing remorse by pleading guilty,Mitigating factors,Accused not causing fatal injuries,Sentencing,Criminal Procedure and Sentencing,Pre-meditation and careful planning of attack,Whether sentence of life imprisonment appropriate,No provocation from deceased,Accused 21 years of age at time of offence,s 304(a) read with s 149 Penal Code (Cap 224),Accused member of group carrying out attack,Culpable homicide not amounting to murder,Accused playing no role in planning attack
• Docket Number: Criminal Case No 12 of 2002
• Published date: 19 September 2003
• Defendant Counsel: Lawrence Wong (Lawrence Wong & Co) (assigned) and N Kanagavijayan (N Krishna & Partners) (assigned)
• Court: High Court (Singapore)
• Plaintiff Counsel: Ng Cheng Thiam and Imran Hamid (Attorney General's Chambers)

Judgment

GROUNDS OF DECISION

THE CHARGE

1. The Accused pleaded guilty before me to the following charge :

"That you, MUHAMAD HASIK BIN SAHAR

on or about the 31^st day of May 2001, between 4.00 am and 4.40 am, in front of 82 South Bridge Road, Singapore, together with Muhammad Syamsul Ariffin Bin Brahim, Norhisham Bin Mohamad Dahlan, Fazely Bin Rahmat, Khairul Famy Bin Mohd Samsudin, Sharulhawazi Bin Ramy, Mohammad Ridzwan Bin Samad, and Mohammad Fahmi Bin Abdul Shukor were members of an unlawful assembly whose common object was to cause hurt with dangerous weapons to members of the ‘303’ Secret Society and while you were a member of the said unlawful assembly, one or more members thereof, in prosecution of the common object of the said unlawful assembly, did cause the death of one Sulaiman Bin Hashim, male 17 years, to wit, by stabbing the said Sulaiman Bin Hashim with knives, the act of which was done with the intention of causing such bodily injury as is likely to cause death, and you have, by virtue of Section 149 of the Penal Code (Chapter 224), committed an offence punishable under Section 304(a) of the Penal Code (Chapter 224)."

2. Section 149 Penal Code provides :

"149. If an offence is committed by any member of an unlawful assembly in prosecution of the common object of that assembly, or such as the members of that assembly knew to be likely to be committed in prosecution of that object, every person who, at the time of the committing of that offence, is a member of the same assembly, is guilty of that offence."

3. Section 304(a) Penal Code states :

"304. Whoever commits culpable homicide not amounting to murder shall be punished –

(a) with imprisonment for life, or imprisonment for a term which may extend to 10 years, and shall also be liable to fine or to caning, if the act by which death is caused is done with the intention of causing death, or of causing such bodily injury as is likely to cause death ; …".

THE STATEMENT OF FACTS

4. The deceased was a student of the Institute of Technical Education at Ang Mo Kio. He was also a national youth soccer player.

5. On 30 May 2001, at about 10.15 pm, he and his two friends, Shariff and Imran, attended a party at the "Rootz" discotheque in the Riverwalk Galleria located at Upper Circular Road. They left the discotheque at about 3 am on 31 May 2001 and went to a nearby restaurant for supper.

6. In the meantime, the Accused and his seven friends named in the charge were at the "Seven" Discotheque at Mohammed Sultan Road celebrating Syamsul’s birthday. All eight persons are members of the "369" secret society of the "18" group also known as the "Sio Koon Tong" secret society. When the discotheque closed at about 3 am on 31 May 2001, the group proceeded to a nearby coffee shop along River Valley Road for snacks and drinks.

7. At the coffee shop, Norhisham, Syamsul and Sharulhawzi decided to launch a surprise attack on a rival gang, "303", operating in the Boat Quay area. The group then proceeded to plan the attack. Sharulhawzi asked Fahmi and Ridzwan to go ahead of the group in a taxi to the "Rootz" discotheque to check whether the rival gang members were there. Sharulhawzi gave Ridzwan $20 for the taxi fare.

8. At about 4.20 am, the two "scouts" arrived at the destination and confirmed by mobile telephone the presence of the members of the said rival gang. They were also instructed to be ready to get two taxis as the get-away vehicles for the entire group.

9. The other six members of the group (including the Accused) then proceeded in two taxis to Boat Quay. When they were ready to attack, Sharulhawzi informed Fahmi by mobile telephone to flag down two taxis and direct the vehicles to Boat Quay to pick up the other six members.

10. At around 4.30 am, the deceased and his two friends left the restaurant and started walking along South Bridge Road towards the City Hall Mass Rapid Transit Station. As they were walking past a pub ("Bernie Goes to Town") located along that stretch of road near the Singapore River, the group of six was walking in the opposite direction along the other side of the road. The six then crossed the road and accosted the three friends from behind. Norhisham, Syamsul and Sharulhawzi brought out the knives which they had kept on their bodies.

11. Norhisham asked the three friends in Malay which gang they belonged to but before they could answer, they were set upon by the six. The Accused saw the deceased’s friend, Shariff, stabbed in the back by Syamsul. The Accused threw some punches at Shariff’s head. As the deceased’s two friends ran for their lives, the Accused, Fazely and Khairul Famy chased them. The deceased’s two friends managed to escape from their attackers.

12. The Accused, Fazely and Khairul Famy, having failed to catch up with the deceased’s two friends, then returned to where the deceased was lying on the steps of the "Bernie Goes to Town" pub. He had collapsed after being attacked by the other three armed gang members who continued to stab and slash him although he was not putting up any resistance. Khairul Famy shouted to the three armed members in Malay to move aside. The Accused, Fazely and Khairul Famy then moved in to kick and to punch the deceased repeatedly in the face. Fazely also used a "belt-chain" to whip the deceased’s body.

13. After the attack, the group of six looked around for the two get-away taxis but they were not able to locate them. They then managed to flag down two other taxis and left the scene for a rented flat in Tampines. While fleeing, one of them chanted the gang’s slogan. The remaining two gang members were informed by mobile telephone to meet at the said rented flat.

14. At the said flat, the group of six cleaned themselves. When the other two returned to join them, they all talked about the assault on the deceased.

15. At about 4.39 am, a member of the public called the police to inform them about the deceased who was lying on the pavement along South Bridge Road, bleeding profusely. The police arrived at the scene shortly thereafter and called for an ambulance. The deceased was brought to the Singapore General Hospital where he passed away at about 5 am.

16. The post mortem report stated that the deceased had 13 stab wounds and certified the cause of death as "stab wounds to the neck and chest.

17. Shariff suffered a 1.5 cm knife wound at the right side of his chest. He was hospitalized and then discharged on 2 June 2001. Imran did not sustain any injury.

18. On 15 June 2001, the Accused was arrested. This was followed by the arrest of Fazely on 25 June 2001. Khairul Famy, who had fled to Batam, was arrested by the Indonesian police and brought back to Singapore on 11 September 2001. These two gang members are standing trial in another High Court.

19. Ridzwan and Fahmi pleaded guilty in the Subordinate Courts on 22 November 2001 to a charge under section 147 Penal Code and were sentenced to three years imprisonment and to receive six strokes of the cane. The remaining three gang members who were armed are still at large.

ANTECEDENT

20. The Accused was convicted on 6 August 1996 on a charge of voluntarily causing hurt with dangerous weapons or means under section 324 read with section 34 Penal Code. He was sentenced to undergo reformative training.

PROSECUTION’S SUBMISSIONS ON SENTENCE

21. The Prosecution argued that the Accused should be sentenced to undergo life imprisonment as the attack was pre-meditated and vicious. It was also directed at persons who were not members of any secret society and not known to the Accused and his gang members. The facts showed that the Accused was an active participant in the ruthless and senseless attack on a totally defenceless victim. It was submitted that the Accused was part of a mob which would "loot and shoot completely innocent bystanders without giving a hoot", echoing my words quoted on appeal in PP v Tan Kei Loon Allan [1999] 2 SLR 288 (at...