Yishun fatal assault: No evidence NSF damaged property or assaulted attackers' family members, say police

• The police said more than 50 police reports were filed against Shawn Ignatius Rodrigues
• There was no evidence to show that Rodrigues made any threats, damaged any property or assaulted Ryan Xavier Tay Seet Choong or his family members 
• The police had advised Rodrigues not to harass Tay and his family
• They also advised Tay’s mother to file a Magistrate’s Complaint

SINGAPORE — The police has released a timeline of events as questions from the public grow over how it handled more than 50 reports filed by the family of Ryan Xavier Tay Seet Choong, when they were allegedly harassed by Shawn Ignatius Rodrigues.

The police also said in a media statement on Monday (Oct 5) that there was no evidence to show that Rodrigues made any threats, damaged any property or assaulted Tay or members of his family.

Their statement came hours after the conclusion of the trial of Tay and Lim at a district court, which began in February.

Tay, 24, was sentenced to four years’ jail and Lim, 59, was jailed for eight months after they were convicted of voluntarily causing grievous hurt to their victim on July 9 in 2016. Rodrigues, 26, died from the attack.

During their trial, Tay and Lim both testified that Rodrigues, a full-time national serviceman (NSF) who was Tay’s church friend, had constantly harassed their family over a prolonged period and that they had filed many police reports against him.

The police said on Monday that Tay and his family members had lodged more than 50 police reports against Rodrigues between February 2015 and July 2016.

“Most of these police reports were in the form of 999 calls whenever Rodrigues turned up outside their flat,” they said.

In most cases, the police said that Rodrigues would knock on the door and ask to speak to Tay.

“There was no evidence to show that Rodrigues made any threats, damaged any property or assaulted Tay or members of his family.”

The police added that Tay’s mother had approached her Member of Parliament (MP) for assistance regarding an incident where Rodrigues allegedly pulled her shoulder and arm asking where Tay was.

The statement said that the MP had made representations to the police on her behalf, and the police later told her that they were investigating the incident.

Although the MP was not named in the statement, Lim had said during his trial in March that his wife had approached Law and Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam, who is MP for Nee Soon Group Representation Constituency, at a meet-the-people session.

However, he added then that Mr Shanmugam was not present. Instead, one of Mr Shanmugam’s lawyers took down a statement from Lim’s wife.

The police said that in the instances where they encountered Rodrigues in the neighbourhood, they advised him not to harass Tay and his family.

“In fact, when resources permitted, the police would remain in the neighbourhood and conduct patrols in case Rodrigues returned,” they said, adding that they had also advised Tay’s family to file a Magistrate’s Complaint if they wished to pursue the matter against Rodrigues.

A Magistrate’s Complaint can be filed by a person who wants to begin a private prosecution — that is the pursuit of criminal legal proceedings by a private individual, who believes that an offence has been committed against him or her.

Tay’s mother, said the police, had approached the State Courts’ Community Justice and Tribunals Division’s Registry on May 19 in 2015 with the intention of filing an application for a prrotection order on behalf of her son, but did not do so at that time.

Tay’s family finally submitted a Magistrate’s Complaint against Rodrigues in January 2016.

As part of the process, the parties involved started attending mediation in February that year.

During this period, the police said that Rodrigues also attended psychological counselling with his private psychotherapist, and was then referred to the Institute of Mental Health (IMH) for further assessment.

He was due to follow up with the IMH’s Adult Neurodevelopment Clinic when the fatal incident occurred.