27-Year-Old Suspect In Orchard Towers Murder Gets Conditional Warning & Charge Reduced
More developments on the remaining suspects in the infamous Orchard Towers murder last July are coming our way.
Earlier this afternoon (15 Oct), the court’s verdict on a 4th suspect is out — 27-year-old Mr Chan Jia Xing is issued a stern warning instead.
This stern warning requires him to be on good behaviour for a year.
If he does so successfully, then it is likely that his case in relation to the fatal fight, will be closed.
Suspect in Orchard Towers murder gets conditional warning
According to Channel NewsAsia (CNA), Mr Chan – who was initially slapped with a murder charge – had it reduced to “consorting with a person” who owns an offensive weapon.
He was then given a conditional warning.
If you’re unsure what a conditional warning is, TODAY Online reports that it is 1 of 2 types of stern warnings issued in Singapore.
It usually means that the person must be free of crime for a certain period of time, around 1-3 years.
During this time, authorities however still retain the right to prosecute the person for the original crime.
Must remain crime-free for 1 year
In Mr Chan’s case, The Straits Times reported that the warning doesn’t mean conviction or “finding of guilt”. More importantly, he won’t have a criminal record.
This is only possible if he refrains from criminal behaviour for a year.
Failure to do so will get him ushered to court again, where he will be prosecuted for the original charge and possibly other fresh offences.
Victim’s alleged murder took place on 2 Jul 2019
The shocking brawl at Orchard Towers last year saw the death of Mr Satheesh Noel Gobidass, who was 31.
CCTV footage showed that he collapsed on the floor at around 6.30am on 2 Jul 2019. He was sent to Tan Tock Seng Hospital, but was pronounced dead about an hour later.
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Mr Chan was among 7 suspects who were arrested and slapped with murder charges following the tragedy.
The rest were:
- Tan Hong Sheng, 23
- Natalie Siow, 24
- Loo Boon Chong, 26
- Joel Tan Yun Sheng, 26
- Ang Da Yuan, 26
- Tan Sen Yang, 28
Only 1 suspect faces murder charge now
Today, only 1 suspect faces the murder charge — Tan Sen Yang. The Straits Times reports that his case, along with Tan Hong Sheng and Loo Boon Chong, is still pending.
Natalie Siow was sentenced to 5 months’ jail for assault.
Meanwhile, Ang Da Yuan got 8 months’ jail and 6 strokes of the cane, also for assault and for “being in the company of Tan Sen Yang”.
As for Joel Tan – who was later charged with assault as well – was ordered to serve 4 weeks in jail.
Hope family can find closure from tragedy
It’s been more than a year since, but we’re sure Mr Satheesh’s untimely demise is still felt deeply by his family members.
As sentences are being meted out to the suspects, we hope eventually, the family will be able to seek closure from the tragedy.
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Featured image adapted from Yahoo Singapore on Facebook.
