Duo who viciously attacked Frenchman over dropped hat jailed, caned

SINGAPORE — Two men have been sentenced to five years in jail and six strokes of the cane after being convicted of a vicious assault on a Frenchman outside Orchard Towers last year.

One of the attackers, Muhammad Daniel Abdul Jalil, 24, received an additional three months’ jail term, as he faced another charge of voluntarily causing grievous hurt for punching the victim’s friend who tried to stop the attack.

The Frenchman, Navarro Dorian Regis, 34, died from traumatic head injuries about one-and-a-half months after the attack.

In sentencing Daniel and Radin Abdullah Syaafii Radin Badruddin, 24, District Judge Kenneth Yap said on Thursday (Oct 19) that the attack was “senseless, persistent, and particularly vicious”.

The judge also noted the increasing trend of alcohol-related violence, and stressed the need for a “sufficiently stern sentence”.

Calling the attack on Regis a reaction that was “totally out of proportion”, the judge said: “You have deprived a man of his life … (when) he did not ask for it.”

He also noted that the duo were convicted of a reduced charge of voluntarily causing grievous hurt, an offence which carries a maximum jail sentence of 10 years, with fine or caning.

“For what you have done, you could have been charged with culpable homicide,” he told the two men, whose original charges were for murder.

The two men had earlier pleaded guilty to the reduced charges on Oct 4.

On April 1 at about 6am last year, both the attackers and their victim had emerged from different nightspots in Orchard Towers.

Daniel and Radin were with two other friends, when Daniel got into an argument with one of them. During the argument, Daniel’s hat was swiped off his head.

Radin tried to pick the hat up, but Regis, who was nearby, threw it towards Daniel’s group.

This angered Radin, who felt the Frenchman was mocking his group. He then confronted Regis and his two friends, one of whom apologised for Regis’ gesture. But Radin insisted that Regis should apologise personally and tailed him as he walked out of Orchard Towers.

Daniel then chased after Regis, running past Radin, and punching the Frenchman on the head from behind. At one point, Daniel also delivered a flying kick to Regis’ stomach.

Regis ran in circles, trying to evade the blows but Daniel landed more punches to his head again, causing him to fall at Claymore Road, the court heard.

Radin later joined in the attack and kicked Regis’ body and face as he lay on the road. He kicked Regis’ face again before he and Daniel were pulled away by their friends.

Regis, who became unconscious four hours after the incident, was subsequently conveyed to the Singapore General Hospital. He fell into a coma and died on May 16 last year.

An autopsy report revealed Regis had died of traumatic head injury, with pneumonia as a contributing cause.

On Thursday, the prosecution, urging the court to impose a sentence of no less than five years, with six strokes of the cane for each one of them, said that the attack on Regis was “unwarranted, and unprovoked”.

“It is … noteworthy that (Regis) had, at no time, used any form of force on the accused persons,” Deputy Public Prosecutor Quek Jing Feng said.

The nature of Regis’ injuries also warranted a “proportionately high punishment”, given the fact that he had spent 46 days in hospital, and had to undergo several invasive procedures as the doctors tried to save his life.

Mr Zaminder Singh Gill, who is Daniel’s lawyer, told the court that his client was remorseful, and urged the court to impose a “fair and appropriate sentence”.

Radin, who was unrepresented, submitted a written mitigation to the court, pleading for a lenient sentence. He later told the packed courtroom that he was “still young, and had a good future ahead of him”.

The court heard that Radin had intentions to pursue a career in football, having been with the National Football Academy and played for the Warriors Football Club (then known as the SAF Football Club).

The pair were allowed to speak with their family members, who were present on Thursday, after the hearing ended.

Their sentences will be backdated to when they were first remanded — May 24, 2016 for Daniel, and April 9, 2016 for Radin.