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Serial offender jailed 3 years, caned for swinging sword, wielding chopper at Orchard Towers

SINGAPORE — A recalcitrant offender was sentenced to jail and caning again on Friday (Aug 16), this time for threatening a man outside Orchard Towers while armed with a sword, a chopper and a baton.

On Friday (Aug 16) serial offender S I George Raj, 49, was sentenced to his seventh prison term over the past two decades.

On Friday (Aug 16) serial offender S I George Raj, 49, was sentenced to his seventh prison term over the past two decades.

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SINGAPORE — A recalcitrant offender was sentenced to jail and caning again on Friday (Aug 16), this time for threatening a man outside Orchard Towers while armed with a sword, a chopper and a baton.

S I George Raj, 49, also assaulted his barber out of anger that the other man did not ask if he wished to buy the barber's mobile phone, but did suggest Raj’s girlfriend or friends might wish to do so.

On Friday, he was sentenced to three years’ jail, backdated to his date of remand – Jan 21 this year — and eight strokes of the cane.

The self-employed Tekka Market stall owner pleaded guilty to three charges of causing hurt, possessing a scheduled weapon and carrying the baton in a public place.

Three other charges of harassment, riotous behaviour and possessing an offensive weapon were taken into consideration for sentencing.

Raj’s previous string of violence-related and offensive weapons offences date back to 1998, Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Stacey Fernandez told the court. He has been sentenced to jail and caning on four previous occasions, along with two other jail terms.

Most recently, in 2017, he was sent behind bars for a year for punching a victim in a similar unprovoked attack. He had been out of prison for only a few months before assaulting Mr Madurai Veeran Chandrasegaran, 21, outside Vintage Barbers in Ang Mo Kio.

The court heard that the attack took place on May 16 last year, at about 5.30pm.

Raj had gone to Mr Madurai’s barber shop to get his usual haircut that day. When Raj sat outside the shop to smoke a cigarette, Mr Madurai told him that he wanted to sell his iPhone 7 as he needed money.

Mr Madurai asked Raj if he had friends or knew anyone else, such as his girlfriend, who was interested in buying the phone from him.

Raj saw red that Mr Madurai had not asked if he wanted to buy the phone and kicked the other man in the chest, even though he apologised for offending him.

Raj punched him in the face again before Mr Madurai ran away.

Mr Madurai’s boss then called the police. It was not stated if Raj was arrested that day.

Four months later, Raj struck again at Orchard Towers. In the early hours of Sept 18 last year, he drank half a bottle of whiskey at home then decided to head out for more drinks.

Before leaving the house, he armed himself with a sword, chopper and 35cm-long baton, as he felt someone might want to harm him, DPP Fernandez said. The sword had a 65cm-long blade, while the chopper had a 33cm-long blade.

Raj wrapped the sword in a blue rug and the chopper in a piece of newspaper, and tucked the baton in the back of his pants.

He took a cab to Orchard Towers, hid the weapons near a staircase there and proceeded to have a few drinks. He retrieved his weapons at 8am after his drinking session.

Half an hour later, he got into a dispute with an unknown man. He swung the sword at him, while also holding the chopper in his hands.

“The accused claims that the unknown man adopted a boxing stance during the dispute, danced around the accused, but did not hit the accused,” DPP Fernandez told the court.

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

For his second conviction of possessing a scheduled weapon, he could have been jailed for up to eight years and given at least six strokes of the cane.

For carrying the baton in a public place, he could have been jailed for up to a month, fined up to S$5,000, or both.

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