Armed robbery suspect goes missing during court break, warrant of arrest issued
Visvanathan Vadivelu went missing during a 10-minute courtroom break, leaving his former lawyer to search for him at the State Courts.
SINGAPORE — Visvanathan Vadivelu, who had pleaded guilty to armed robbery at a petrol station, stunned the court when he went missing after a 10-minute break on Tuesday (Sept 17).
Earlier, the 50-year-old man, who was set to be sentenced, surprised the court by asking to retract his guilty plea, saying he had been “misled” into admitting to the offences. He also insisted on having his mental health assessed.
His former lawyer A Revi Shanker, whom Visvanathan discharged on Monday, spent more than 10 minutes checking various other courtrooms and general areas in the State Courts after Visvanathan failed to turn up after the break.
Mr Shanker also told the court that Visvanathan was uncontactable on his mobile phone.
District Judge Kan Shuk Weng issued a warrant of arrest against Visvanathan and revoked his bail of S$70,000.
His mother, who posted bail for him, will have to turn up for a hearing on Oct 29 to explain why the bail amount should not be forfeited.
TUESDAY’S HEARING
On Tuesday afternoon, Visvanathan — who is now unrepresented by a lawyer — told the judge repeatedly and in halting sentences that he wanted to retract his guilty plea.
He had pleaded guilty last month to one count of armed robbery by day at a petrol station, as well as three other unrelated charges of drug consumption and possession. Five other similar charges were to have been taken into consideration for sentencing.
Visvanathan alleged that Mr Shanker lied to him and “misled” him into pleading guilty, and that he had “medical reasons and some other facts” to explain why he should not have admitted to the charges.
District Judge Kan expressed confusion over his requests, asking him which charges he was challenging and what “strong evidence” he had to back him up.
Visvanathan also asked her to send him for a forensic assessment at the Institute of Mental Health (IMH), to determine if he has a mental illness.
She retorted that he looked “perfectly healthy” and that he could get an appointment himself.
In response to Visvanathan, Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Chong Yong charged that he was abusing the court process and had dragged the matter out “until he is past 50 years old and can no longer be caned”.
Offenders who commit armed robbery by day can be jailed up to 10 years and given at least six strokes of the cane.
Visvanathan had robbed a Shell petrol station along Upper Bukit Timah Road on July 31, 2017, when he was 48 years old. He was charged with the offence three days later.
DPP Chong told the court: “Now he says he’s confused, and his inability to answer as to what led him to plead guilty is a clear sign that this is complete fiction, designed solely to drag out the process even more.”
As for Visvanathan’s request for a forensic assessment, the DPP noted that none of the documents he gave the court on Tuesday pointed towards him going for a psychiatric assessment.
“What we do have is an IMH report prepared in August 2017, much closer to when the offences were committed. It was very clear in the diagnosis that he had depression and schizophrenia in the past, but at the time of the offence, he was not of unsound mind,” DPP Chong said.
The prosecutor also urged the judge to reject Visvanathan’s application to retract his guilty plea and proceed to sentence him on Tuesday.
Visvanathan objected to that, repeating that he had “strong evidence” and that he was still suffering from a mental illness.
The judge called for a 10-minute break for DPP Chong to ask Mr Shanker about his former client’s allegations. Visvanathan did not turn up afterwards.
Another 10 minutes later, Mr Shanker appeared before the judge and told her: “I went to see all of the courtrooms… the accused cannot be contacted now and cannot be called.”
District Judge Kan thanked him for taking the time to do so, but said it was a “wasted trip”. The lawyer then left after saying he would help if needed.
FACTS OF THE CASE
When Visvanathan pleaded guilty, the court heard that he was desperate for cash and hatched a plan to rob a petrol station.
Wearing a jacket, gloves, sunglasses and a black motorcycle helmet to conceal his identity, he threatened the 22-year-old cashier at the Shell petrol station with a kitchen knife and took S$1,193 from the cash register.
Closed-circuit television cameras at the petrol station captured his actions.
He then fled on his motorcycle and eventually stopped before the junction of Upper Bukit Timah Road and Hillview.
He removed his attire and put on a red helmet instead. He also removed the masking tape he had used to cover the licence plate of his motorcycle.
After riding to Sembawang, he deposited S$500 of the stolen money into his bank account in two transactions.
He was arrested later that day in his flat where another S$499 was seized. He said that he spent the remaining S$194 on petrol, food and cigarettes.
He was later released on court bail but re-offended again barely two months later.
On Sept 15, 2017, he left bags containing drugs in a toilet at Clementi Neighbourhood Police Centre.
Police officers found the items there after he left and arrested him at a Clementi car park later that evening. He admitted to consuming heroin and methamphetamine on occasions since June 2017.
This was not his first drug-related offence. In 1998, he was sentenced to five years’ jail and given three strokes of the cane for taking morphine.
