Orchard Towers fatal brawl: New details emerge as one man gets 8 months’ jail and caning, another jailed 4 weeks

SINGAPORE — Details of the high-profile alleged murder at Orchard Towers last year emerged for the first time in a district court on Wednesday (March 4), as two of the men involved were sentenced to jail terms.

Joel Tan Yun Sheng and Ang Da Yuan, both 26, pleaded guilty to reduced charges of causing hurt with common intention.

The former classmates had their murder charges downgraded last month, leaving only one of the seven accused individuals — Tan Sen Yang, 27 — facing the capital charge. 

Joel Tan, who was working as a dormitory office administrator at the time of the incident, is expected to be released on Wednesday after being sentenced to four weeks’ jail.

He had been held in remand for eight months since his arrest. Another charge of consorting with Tan Sen Yang when the latter had an offensive weapon was taken into consideration for sentencing.

Ang, who worked at the front desk of a hotel, was sentenced to eight months behind bars and six strokes of the cane.

While he was similarly held in remand for that period, he was not allowed to walk free due to the caning imposed. He appeared in court through video-link on Wednesday.

He had pleaded guilty to a second charge of consorting with Tan Sen Yang, an offence that carries mandatory caning. A third charge of disorderly behaviour in a public place was considered for his sentencing.

Another accused person, 22-year-old Tan Hong Sheng, skipped a court hearing last year. He was later arrested and given a new charge of rioting while out on bail, on top of his charge of consorting with Tan Sen Yang. 

Two others, Loo Boon Chong and Chan Jia Xing, both 26, similarly face charges of consorting with Tan Sen Yang. 

The only woman and the seventh individual involved in the incident — Natalie Siow Yu Zhen, 23 — faces charges of causing hurt, consorting with Tan Sen Yang and behaving in a disorderly manner. 

WHAT HAPPENED

In the wee hours of July 2 last year, 31-year-old Satheesh Noel Gobidass was found lying motionless in a pool of blood at the entrance of Orchard Towers.

Satheesh had succumbed to his injuries at the scene and an autopsy later showed that he had died from a stab wound to the neck. The autopsy also found multiple stab and incised wounds on other parts of his body.

According to court documents, Tan Sen Yang allegedly had a foldable Karambit — a small curved knife resembling a claw — while he was at Naughty Girl Club that morning.

On Wednesday, the court heard that the night began with Ang and Joel Tan going to Club Mao at Oriental Plaza in Chinatown to drink beer.

Siow joined them at 1am and about an hour later, the group went to Club Peaches in the Orchard area and met more friends.

Three hours later, they made their way to another nightclub, Club Aura at Orchard Hotel, to meet more friends, including Tan Sen Yang.

The group, at this point consisting of at least 10 people, then walked over to the Naughty Girl Club and ordered two towers of beer.

THE BRAWL

The group decided to leave at about 6.20am. As they were walking out, a second group comprising five people walked in through the same entrance, causing some congestion.

Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Ang Feng Qian told the court: “As Joel Tan stepped out with the rest of his group, he heard an exchange of terse and vulgar words between Tan Sen Yang and persons from the other group.

“Secret society slogans were exchanged between the accused persons’ group and the other group, with Ang and Tan Sen Yang shouting: ‘Wan Ah Wan, Sio Loh Kuan’.”

The club’s security officers intervened while others began to gather near the club entrance, including Satheesh.

Footage from a closed-circuit television camera just outside the club showed Tan Sen Yang taking out the Karambit during the dispute and waving it above his head.

He also swung it at everyone gathered at the entrance, slashing one of the security officers on the finger and another man on the face.

“Meanwhile, Siow dashed towards the persons at the doorway and jumped at people. She also flipped a table positioned near the club entrance onto the floor,” DPP Ang said.

After some scuffling, someone shouted “police” and the group took the lift to the ground floor of Orchard Towers.

At about 6.30am, as the group was walking towards the exit of Orchard Towers, Satheesh came down the escalator alone and confronted Ang.

The two engaged in fisticuffs while Joel Tan, Tan Sen Yang and Siow joined the fray.

Tan Sen Yang then allegedly swung the Karambit at Satheesh’s jaw and neck, slashing him a few times.

The group then left Orchard Towers as Satheesh collapsed onto the ground.

WHAT LAWYERS SAID

DPP Ang revealed that Ang was jailed for three weeks each in 2017 and 2018 for voluntarily causing hurt. He was also put on probation in 2010 for behaving in a disorderly manner in public.

Mr Josephus Tan and Mr Cory Wong from Invictus Law Corporation, who represented Joel Tan, said that their client had contacted the police and “coordinated the collective surrender” of some in the group.

Ang’s lawyers — Mr Anil Sandhu and Mr Mohamed Arshad from Kertar & Sandhu — noted that their client, along with Joel Tan, Siow and Chan had turned themselves in.

“Ang deeply regrets that a life has been lost… The entire incident has impressed upon Ang the fleeting nature of life and he vows to stay on the straight and narrow and focus on taking care of his family after he has paid his debts to society,” Mr Anil added.

For causing hurt, the pair could have been jailed up to two years, fined up to S$5,000 or both.

For consorting with a person with an offensive weapon, Ang could have been jailed up to three years and given at least six strokes of the cane.