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Geylang murder trial: Rag-and-bone man accused of killing coffee shop helper in ‘violent revenge attack’

SINGAPORE — Rag-and-bone man Toh Sia Guan was about to get breakfast at a food court in Geylang one morning in July 2016 when he got into a fight with another man — and later ended up killing him.

Toh Sia Guan (centre) began standing trial in the High Court for murdering Goh Eng Thiam on Tuesday (Aug 6).

Toh Sia Guan (centre) began standing trial in the High Court for murdering Goh Eng Thiam on Tuesday (Aug 6).

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SINGAPORE — Rag-and-bone man Toh Sia Guan was about to get breakfast at a food court in Geylang one morning in July 2016 when he got into a fight with another man — and later ended up killing him.

On Tuesday (Aug 6), Toh, 67, began standing trial in the High Court for murdering Goh Eng Thiam by causing bodily injury sufficient to cause death. 

If convicted of murder, he faces the death penalty or life imprisonment.

When asked how he would respond to the charge, Toh said through a Mandarin interpreter: “I didn’t kill anyone.”

Prosecutors are accusing Toh of murdering Goh, 52, in what they call a “vicious and violent revenge attack” on July 9, 2016.

Toh had been heading to the coffee shop at Lorong 23 Geylang that morning to get breakfast when he saw Goh, and thought he was staring at him.

The pair then got into a verbal and physical tiff.

Toh left the scene, but bought a knife and a pair of slippers from a nearby shop, then returned. 

The men got into a second fight. This time Toh stabbed Goh, who died from his wounds shortly after.

Toh was arrested 12 days later on July 21, 2016 at Labrador Park MRT Station, after the police received information that he was in the area.

He is represented by Mr Wong Seow Pin from SP Wong & Co, and Ms Wong Li-Yen Dew from Dew Chambers.

The lawyers are likely to rely on these defences, said Deputy Public Prosecutors Eugene Lee, Claire Poh and Senthilkumaran Sabapathy: 

  • Toh did not cause the fatal stab wound, which was self-inflicted by Goh.

  • Toh did not intend to cause the fatal stab wound.

  • Right of private defence: Under the Penal Code, anything done in self-defence does not constitute an offence. It is also considered an exception to murder.

THE FIRST FIGHT

At the time of the alleged murder, Toh was 64 years old and did not have a permanent home. He collected cardboard and cans for a living.

On the morning of July 9, 2016, he cycled from Potong Pasir to Lorong 23 Geylang to get breakfast from Victoria Food Court.

Goh was there too, buying a drink.

At about 7.40am, the two men got into an argument outside the food court. Toh, who thought Goh was staring at him, asked the other man if he was selling Chinese medicine to “diffuse the tension”, he said.

Angered, Goh hurled Hokkien vulgarities at Toh.

Toh then got off his bicycle and the two men began fighting each other. Their brawl was partly captured by closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage, which was played in court. 

Goh hit Toh first with his bicycle, prosecutors said, before Toh took a wooden stick from a nearby lorry and used it to strike the back of Goh’s head.

After Toh lost his grip on the stick, the two men struggled with each other and exchanged more blows.

Prosecutors said that Toh eventually lost the fight, as he ran away without his bicycle and left one of his slippers on the road.

THE SECOND FIGHT

Toh then went to the Budget Value shop at Lorong 25 Geylang, while Goh went to meet a friend to clean himself up after the fight.

The prosecution is making the case that at the shop, Toh bought a 26.5cm-long knife while “visibly angry” and went back to Lorong 23 Geylang to look for Goh with the intention of using the weapon on him.

At about 7.55am, they got into a second brawl. 

Prosecutors said that based on CCTV footage, Toh had “immediately rushed” towards the victim, who retrieved the wooden stick Toh had previously used.

Toh then “viciously stabbed” Goh in vulnerable areas, including his right upper arm, his scalp and chest, the prosecutors added. 

The victim also suffered several cuts on his hands,

Two minutes later, Toh fled the scene in a bloodstained T-shirt and, again, wearing only one slipper.

WHAT HAPPENED AFTER

Mr Ang Yong Ping, who was working nearby, witnessed the end of the fight. He told Goh he had called for an ambulance. Goh laid down on the road and rested his head on the kerb.

Paramedics pronounced him dead at about 8.11am. Police officers recovered the knife, wooden stick, Goh’s shirt and Toh’s left yellow slipper at the scene.

An autopsy report showed that the cause of death was a stab wound to the right upper arm.

After fleeing and getting to a public car park at Lorong 21 Geylang, Toh put on another shirt which he had taken from a clothesline. He then went to an NTUC Fairprice supermarket at Block 5, Boon Keng Road to buy another pair of slippers. He did not return to Geylang again.

Prosecutors said that one of the officers who arrested Toh on July 21, 2016 will testify in court that Toh had admitted to evading the police by seeking shelter under a bridge near the Bendemeer area, and that he was “unfazed and unsurprised” upon his arrest as “he knew it was a matter of time before he would be caught”.

The trial continues.

Related topics

court crime murder stabbing

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