Spottiswoode condo killer litter: Man admits hurling wine bottle that led to death of 73-year-old

SINGAPORE — A 49-year-old man pleaded guilty in the State Courts on Friday (Feb 25) to entertaining hostile thoughts about the Muslim community and wanting to startle a group by hurling a wine bottle at them from a seventh-floor lift landing in 2019.

The bottle struck 73-year-old Nasiari Sunee on the head, then ricocheted and hit his 69-year-old wife on the shoulder.

The grandfather of nine died in hospital the next day from his injuries, while his spouse was seriously injured.

Andrew Gosling, an Australian citizen, pleaded guilty to one charge each of causing Nasiari’s death by a rash act and causing grievous hurt to his wife, Madam Manisah, by a rash act.

After throwing the bottle and shouting crude and religiously charged vulgarities, Gosling fled back to his unit.

It took 10 days for him to confess to the police, after they questioned him thrice and took statements from other condo residents.

He has been remanded since surrendering to the authorities.

Principal District Judge Victor Yeo adjourned sentencing to April 8.

Gosling's charges were reduced from more serious ones of causing grievous hurt to Nasiari with an instrument likely to cause death, as well voluntarily causing hurt to Mdm Manisah in a religiously aggravated act.

Psychiatrists found that he was prone to obsessive negative thoughts when intoxicated but these did not represent his true feelings and intentions.

THOUGHT ABOUT USING WEAPON LIKE GUN

The court heard Gosling had entered Singapore on July 15, 2019 to seek employment. He rented a unit at the Spottiswoode 18 condominium around the Outram area shortly after applying for a work pass.

On Aug 18 that year, he met an acquaintance for lunch where he drank a pint of beer. 

He returned home at 3.30pm and left his home again at 6pm to have dinner.

At dinner, he had two large bottles of beer.

He returned home at 7pm and drank another can of beer on his balcony which overlooked the fifth-floor swimming pool. 

He noticed a group of 10 to 15 people at the barbecue pits near the pool. He ascertained that they were from the Malay-Muslim community as some of the women were wearing headscarves.

During investigations, Gosling admitted that upon seeing the group, it crossed his mind to use a weapon like a gun to shoot them. He then dismissed the thought because he thought it was a heinous act.

At around 8pm, he left his unit to dispose of rubbish at the common rubbish chute at the lift lobby which overlooked the barbeque area.

Upon finding an empty wine bottle in the rubbish chute, he hurled it towards the group. Prosecutors told the court that there was approximately 18m between him and the group at the time.

He then ran back to his unit while shouting religiously charged vulgarities, which were redacted from court documents.

He confessed to throwing the bottle for two reasons: As an act of mischief as he wanted to startle the group when the bottle shattered on the ground, and due to his anger at terrorist acts committed by Islamic fundamentalist groups in Bali and Melbourne that had claimed the lives of Australians.

OFFENCE UNLIKELY TO BE RELIGIOUSLY MOTIVATED: PSYCHIATRIST

Nasiari collapsed from being struck by the bottle, which landed on the ground intact. Paramedics who arrived at the scene noticed that he was semi-conscious and groaning in pain, while Mdm Manisah could not raise her right arm.

Nasiari was taken to Singapore General Hospital in an ambulance, arriving in a completely unresponsive state. A brain scan showed extensive bleeding in his brain, multiple skull fractures and extensive haemorrhaging.

He died the morning after the incident when his family declined to resuscitate him.

Mdm Manisah suffered extensive bruising over her shoulder among other injuries and her arm was in a sling for two months. 

When police officers interviewed condo residents, Gosling told them he had seen the group at the barbeque pits earlier in the day but lied that he did not hear a commotion. 

On Aug 23, 2019, he was asked to go to the police station to give a statement where he only said that he had read the news about the incident but did not admit to his actions. 

He provided a DNA sample and fingerprints before realising the authorities could trace the bottle back to him. He then surrendered five days later.

He was assessed in the Institute of Mental Health, where psychiatrist Christopher Cheok found he had alcohol intoxication and a past history of anxiety history but that these did not contribute to his offences and he was not of unsound mind.

His state of intoxication had impaired his judgement to some extent but it was not enough to remove his culpability for the offence, Dr Cheok added.

The psychiatrist’s report, which was issued with the defence's psychiatrist Munidasa Winslow, also stated that Gosling was prone to obsessive negative thoughts when intoxicated, but these did not represent his true feelings and intentions. It was likely a product of his impaired mental state and "not genuinely reflective of an anti-Muslim stance".

“Even if he had committed the alleged offence, it was unlikely to be religiously motivated,” the report further stated.

VICTIM SEVERELY AFFECTED BY HUSBAND’S DEATH

Deputy Public Prosecutors G Kannan, Thiagesh Sukumaran and Ben Mathias Tan sought seven years’ jail for Gosling, arguing that he had demonstrated “clear hostility towards Muslims” and that his conduct was “frankly appalling”.

They also pointed to the financial and emotional impact Nasiari’s death had on Mdm Manisah, who was in court on Friday with some relatives.

The couple had been married for 45 years. Mdm Manisah took some time to come to terms with her husband’s death and experienced flashbacks of the incident, the court heard.

The housewife had been heavily reliant on his salary as a deliveryman. Her four children now give her S$700 a month for household expenses.

She also cooks for her children and their families daily, asking them to collect the food so she would not be alone at home, and feels Nasiari’s absence keenly during the fasting month of Ramadan.

Covid-19 restrictions had worsened her loneliness, prosecutors added. Her 17-year-old grandson now stays with her on weeknights to accompany her.

“Although she tries to stay strong for her children, she would cry to herself when alone,” DPP Thiagesh told the court.

Gosling’s defence team — comprising Senior Counsel N Sreenivasan, Mr Selvarajan Balamurugan, Ms Gloria-James Civetta and Mr Kevin Liew — argued that this was not a religious hate crime and that he had shown some level of obsessive-compulsiveness.

Mr Sreenivasan noted that the only reason authorities knew what Gosling had shouted after throwing the bottle was because he confessed to it. There was no evidence that anyone else heard him.

The lawyer also read out Gosling's apology letter to the victims' families and a Facebook post written by Nasiari’s nephew, who had asked for a "fair judgement" and "no bias against Gosling as a foreigner".

"No amount of time or years spent in jail, or amount of fine imposed, can equate to losing the loved one we buried last week," the nephew wrote.

Gosling grew emotional at this point, bending over where he was seated in the dock and wiping tears away.

Those convicted of causing death by a rash act under the Penal Code can be jailed for up to five years or fined, or punished with both.

Those who cause grievous hurt by a rash act can be jailed for up to four years or fined up to S$10,000, or both.