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St James Power Station death: Fourth man sentenced; murder trial of final suspect begins in July

SINGAPORE — He heeded the call of a fellow secret society member and took part in a brutal attack on two men at the now-defunct nightspot St James Power Station.

Muhammad Faizal Md Jamal was on the run for almost three days, hiding at four different locations until he was finally arrested.

Muhammad Faizal Md Jamal was on the run for almost three days, hiding at four different locations until he was finally arrested.

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SINGAPORE — He heeded the call of a fellow secret society member and took part in a brutal attack on two men at the now-defunct nightspot St James Power Station.

Muhammad Faizal Md Jamal then went on the run for almost three days, hiding at four different locations until he was finally arrested.

He initially faced a murder charge as one of the victims, 34-year-old Satheesh Kumar Manogaran, died from his injuries on the night of the attack. The other victim, Satheesh’s cousin Naveen Lal Pillar suffered a stab wound at the back of his head.

On Tuesday (May 14), Faizal, 24, was sentenced to eight-and-a-half years’ jail and eight strokes of the cane. The former part-time mover pleaded guilty to causing grievous hurt to Satheesh on March 12, 2017.

Another charge of causing hurt to Mr Naveen, 29, was taken into consideration for sentencing.

The man who allegedly wielded the knife in the attack, Muhammad Khalid Kamarudin, is set to stand trial for murder in July. He will be the last person to be dealt with in court for the case.

FOUGHT OVER LIQUOR BOTTLE

On the day of the attack, a dispute arose between the victims and waiter Shawalludin Sa’adon, then 26, over a misplaced liquor bottle.

Shawalludin, a gang member, was working at Postbar in the St James Power Station building.

He saw the bottle belonging to Satheesh’s group placed on the floor and told them that it should not be left there.

They got into an argument and Shawalludin was asked by his manager to step outside.

Angered by the incident, he sent a message by phone and called Mohammed Hisham Hassan, asking him to rally members of the Sio Kun Tong secret society.

Hisham agreed and, on his way to Postbar, sent a message to the secret society’s members.

Khalid, who was at another bar at the time, responded to the call. He had a knife with him and recruited Faizal along the way.

When Faizal asked him why he had the knife, Khalid replied: “Just bring only.”

Faizal took it to mean the knife was for self-defence.

The four men met at around 5.30am and agreed to confront Satheesh and Mr Naveen.

Their plans were briefly disrupted when two police officers approached the group, but they resumed after the officers left to attend to another fight.

Hisham walked away to call his girlfriend, and the rest of the group went up to Satheesh and Mr Naveen and proceeded to stab, kick and punch them.

Khalid allegedly stabbed Satheesh repeatedly with the knife, including on the forehead and the back of his head.

Faizal and Shawalludin punched and kicked Satheesh before turning on Mr Naveen.

EVADED ARREST FOR 63 HOURS

After the attack, Shawalludin went to wash the blood off his hands in a toilet and continued working, while Faizal and Khalid fled in a taxi.

Khalid then contacted a fellow gang member, Mohd Firdaus Abdullah, and they sought shelter with him.

After failing to reach his girlfriend, Hisham returned to the scene and saw Mr Naveen stumbling around covered in blood and Satheesh lying on the ground.

He sent a message to Shawalludin and Khalid, telling them Satheesh had died. He also told Shawalludin to “run far far”, the court previously heard.

Satheesh died from the stab wounds on his head at the Singapore General Hospital.

Khalid and Faizal sought refuge for several hours at a flat in Aljunied that belonged to Firdaus’ brother, before Hisham told them to go to his Yishun flat.

Later that day, Faizal left for the home of the girlfriend of another gang member, Mohammad Idris Zainal Abidin. He spent the night there.

The next day, he and Khalid left for the flat of Idris’ father in Bukit Batok, where they were eventually arrested at 9.30pm.

Hisham, Khalid and Firdaus had been arrested in the Yishun flat the previous evening.

Except for Khalid, all have been sentenced.

Hisham was jailed 18 months last year, while Shawalludin was jailed five-and-a-half years and given six strokes of the cane. Firdaus was given six years and two months’ jail and five strokes of the cane.

‘A LIFE HAS BEEN LOST’

On Tuesday, Deputy Public Prosecutor Wong Kok Weng sought at least nine years’ jail and eight strokes of the cane for Faizal.

Satheesh died needlessly in a senseless, secret society-linked attack that began over a trivial issue, he said.

Faizal’s lawyer, Mr Raghbir Singh Bajwa, asked for a seven-year jail term. He told Judicial Commissioner Audrey Lim that his client had formed the common intention with the others to cause grievous hurt to the victims, but there was no intention to kill anyone.

The judge noted that Faizal did not inflict the fatal stab wounds, but knew Khalid intended to use the knife to attack the victims.

“I agree that deterrence and retribution are the principal sentencing considerations. The deceased did nothing to the accused to warrant such a response from an attack on him. In part due to the accused’s actions, a life has been lost,” she said.

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crime court assault death St James Power Station

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