Orchard Towers brawl: Murder charges withdrawn for three of the accused

SINGAPORE — Three of the seven individuals accused of the murder of a man at Orchard Towers last week now face reduced charges, after they returned to court on Thursday (July 11).

The three are Loo Boon Chong, 25, Chan Jia Xing, 26, and Tan Hong Sheng, 22. 

All three men were granted a discharge amounting to an acquittal for their murder charges.

They were first charged a week ago after the victim, 31-year-old Satheesh Noel Gobidass, died in Tan Tock Seng Hospital following a fight in the building.

Court documents show that the alleged murder happened at about 6.30am on July 2. 

Satheesh was found lying motionless in a pool of blood at the entrance of Orchard Towers.

Loo, who is represented by lawyers Diana Ngiam, Sunil Sudheesan and Sujesh Anandan from Quahe Woo & Palmer, now faces one charge of consorting with a person carrying an offensive weapon in a public place.

He was offered S$15,000 bail, after Ms Ngiam told District Judge Terence Tay that he was not a flight risk and that one of his parents would be his bailor. Loo also voluntarily went to the police station to help in investigations and was subsequently arrested, she added.

Chan and Tan — represented by lawyers Josephus Tan, Cory Wong and Shane Yeo from Invictus Law Corporation — face the same charge, under the Corrosive and Explosive Substances and Offensive Weapons Act.

It carries a maximum jail term of three years, and at least six strokes of the cane.

They were in the company of 27-year-old Tan Sen Yang, who is said to have had a foldable Kerambit knife, at about 5.45am that morning at Naughty Girl Club in Orchard Towers.

Chan and Tan were offered bail of S$25,000. 

The other four accused persons still face a charge that carries the death penalty — committing murder with common intention.

They are Natalie Siow Yu Zhen, 22, Joel Tan Yun Sheng, 26, Ang Da Yuan, 26, and Tan Sen Yang. They could not be offered bail due to the nature of the charge.

Tan Sen Yang will be remanded at Central Police Division for one week. He is believed to be involved in other offences, and he will remain in remand for investigations to be conducted.

He will return to court on July 18, while the six others will return on August 1.

Siow is represented by Ms Cheryl Ng from Intelleigen and Mr Amarick Gill, while Mr Tan from Invictus is also the lawyer for Joel Tan.

Siow, Joel Tan and Ang will be remanded for three weeks at the Complex Medical Centre in Changi Prison for psychiatric evaluation.

Four of the accused persons were taken back to the crime scene on Tuesday by police officers.