Man gets over 4 months' jail for stabbing 2 men during fight sparked by gang-related dispute

SINGAPORE — A 27-year-old man has been given a jail sentence for stabbing two men during a fight between two rival groups near a nightclub, sparked by a quarrel over gang-related matters.

Muhammad Amirul Hanafi pleaded guilty on Monday (May 15) to two counts of causing hurt with a dangerous weapon. He was sentenced to four months and one week's jail.

Amirul stabbed the two victims in the back in the wee hours of March 12, 2021 after the two rival groups became embroiled in a fight near a club named Lu La located at Ann Siang Hill in the Chinatown district.

WHAT HAPPENED

Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Claire Poh told the court that the police received a 999 call at about 2.20am that day informing them of a stabbing at Block 98 Club Street, and was asked to send a "****ing ambulance" by a witness on the phone.

Amirul was a member of one of the two groups at Lu La club earlier that evening.

A quarrel had erupted between the groups about some "gang-related" matter. The exact nature of the argument was not disclosed in court documents.

Around 2am, the first group left the club and walked over to the Ann Siang Hill roadside where they spotted the second group. An argument between two members of the group ensued and escalated into a fight.

During the fight, Amirul intentionally used a blade to stab a youth Gabriel Don Keagan, then aged 19, in the lower back twice.

He also stabbed a second man, Mr T David Mathew, then aged 21, in the back twice.

Court documents did not give details of the blade used in the attack.

The fight was partially captured by closed-circuit television footage and eventually stopped when someone shouted, "Police!".

Both of Amirul's victims were taken to the Singapore General Hospital in an ambulance shortly after the fight.

DPP Poh said that Mr Mathew sustained 2cm stab wounds over the left upper back that tracked 3cm deep into the posterior deltoid muscle, as well as a 0.5cm stab wound on left mid-back.

Mr Gabriel sustained an 8cm open wound on his back and was hospitalised for five days.

Amirul's lawyer, Mr Muhammed Riyach Hussain Omar from HC Law Practice, asked District Judge Luke Tan to consider a lighter sentence because the incident was not premeditated and had occurred in the "heat of the moment". 

DPP Poh responded by stressing to the judge that Amirul has not made restitution to the victims for their medical fees and should therefore "receive a sentence that is higher" than an offender who had done so.

For voluntarily causing hurt by means of stabbing, Amirul could have been jailed for up to seven years with a fine or caning, or with any combination of these punishments.