Certis Cisco officer ‘didn’t know’ why he was playing with gun

SINGAPORE — A corporal from security firm Certis Cisco who fired off a round while he was fooling around with his revolver said that he did not know what went through his mind when he did it. It was heard in a district court on Monday (Jan 9) that he was afraid of losing his job, which led him to come up with the lie that he had lost two bullets in the toilet.

Gregory Lai, 23, allegedly removed five bullets from his gun and reloaded it with one when he was on duty at an observation post at Tuas Checkpoint on Aug 13, 2015. He pulled the trigger twice, and the gun went off on the second squeeze. He later found part of the bullet under a table in the small room.

To cover up his actions, he threw a different bullet into the toilet bowl and informed the operations room that he had lost two bullets in the toilet.

Fellow corporal Muhammad Dzul Adhar Azmi, who witnessed the entire episode, helped Lai to dispose the discharged bullet at Bedok Reservoir.

Only one bullet was found in the search at the toilet, and Lai eventually confessed to his actions five days later. He was charged with carrying out a rash act which could endanger human life, obstructing the course of justice, and lying to the police.

During the trial on Monday, the prosecution called four witnesses to the stand.

In a police statement tendered to the court, Lai said that he had been playing Russian Roulette at the observation post. When asked why, Lai said: “I did not know what I was thinking.”

He was also “not prepared” to tell the truth at that time. “Yes, it is quite obvious that it was wrong, but I did not know what to do. I just wanted to save my job at that time,” he told the police.

In October last year, Dzul was jailed three weeks and fined S$2,000 for intentionally obstructing justice and failing to report the offence. Returning to court as a prosecution witness on Monday, Dzul, 22, said that he urged Lai to stop playing with his revolver and return it to the holster, after seeing him remove the bullets.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Jane Lim then asked him if there was any threat to his and Lai’s safety at the time. “Yes, because when the incident happened, it was right in front of me,” Dzul replied, adding that he was shocked.

Prosecution witness Nicholas Chang, who was Lai’s superior at Certis Cisco, testified that Lai, who was new to the firm, had gone through weapons training in April 2015. Inspector Chang said that the training included rules on using a gun, such as keeping the weapon holstered at all times except in the face of a threat. The gun should never be pointed at anyone or anything, unless there was justification.

Seeking to cast aspersions on Inspector Chang’s credibility, Lai’s lawyer Peter Ong asked if he was an expert in handling weapons, and the number of times he has drawn his own gun.

The trial continues on Tuesday with Lai expected to take the stand.