Man with mental disorder jailed for killing 72-year-old dad
Reuters file photo
SINGAPORE — A jobless man diagnosed with schizophrenia was jailed more than 15 years on Thursday (Feb 22), for killing his adoptive father and grievously hurting his girlfriend and adoptive mother.
On New Year’s Eve of 2015, Su Caizhi, 30, beat up his 72-year-old adoptive father Pang Tee Lin in their Bedok Reservoir home based on an unfounded suspicion that Pang had taken his medication.
Su punched Pang twice on the face, causing him to fall. He then stamped on his face two to three times, even though he saw that Pang was already bleeding from his head, mouth and nose. The attack ended with Su kicking Pang in the chest.
The hawker, who had adopted Su from the Chinese province of Hainan when he was only five, suffered severe brain injury and fractures to his face, ribs and spine. He was taken off life support nine days after the assault.
Calling his “completely unprovoked” attack on his “vulnerable and defenceless” father “savage”, Justice Kannan Ramesh said that Su’s mental condition substantially impaired his mental responsibility, but “this does not mean that (Su) was not aware of the nature and consequence of his actions”.
“There was no suggestion that he was not aware that he was savagely attacking his adoptive father. This is important,” he added.
Su was sentenced to a jail term of 15 years, four months and two weeks after he pleaded guilty to four charges, including one of culpable homicide not amounting to murder.
Justice Ramesh pointed out that not only did Pang cared and provided for Su for more than 20 years, Pang also gave Su — who has a history of alcohol abuse — more than S$70,000 out of the S$100,000 they received from selling his curry rice stall “to help him get back on his feet”.
“When seen through these lenses, the factors… made the assault aggravating, pernicious and reprehensible,” the High Court judge said.
“This case brings into sharp focus the competing tensions between sentencing principles when the accused labours under a psychiatric ailment which impairs his capacity to appreciate the nature and gravity of his actions.”
NEED FOR ADEQUATE MEDICAL TREATMENT
Su’s lawyer, Mr Nakoorsha Abdul Kadir, who sought an 11-year sentence for his culpable homicide charge, had urged the court to take the accused “mental infirmity” as the cause of the assault.
However, Justice Ramesh said that a sentence of 14 years for that charge will ensure that Su receives adequate medical treatment in a structured and disciplined environment, because there is good reason to believe that he will relapse, posing a real risk to the general public and his loved ones.
Su went off his medication frequently despite knowing that he posed a “real risk”, having presented aggressive behaviour towards Pang and his then-girlfriend, Ms Melissa Foo Fern Yin, 34, on multiple occasions between July 2012 and December 2015. During that period, he was admitted to the Institute of Mental Health (IMH) seven times.
Three days after he was last discharged from the IMH on Dec 9, 2015, Su stopped taking his medication again, causing him to experience psychotic symptoms, become disoriented and sleepless, and hear voices.
Justice Ramesh said: “The warning signs were clearly there. Yet, the accused did not resume his medication, offering the flimsy excuse that he had misplaced them. No explanation was offered as to why he could not have secured a new stock from the IMH.”
‘A FAMILY SHATTERED’
On the same day when Su attacked his father, he was already behaving aggressively towards his girlfriend. Ms Foo was at their home and Su strangled her until she passed out because she refused to have sex with him. As she laid unconscious, he continued to punch and stepped on her face, and hit her chest.
She suffered numerous fractures, including some on her ribs, as well as liver lacerations. She also had to undergo an operation for her facial injuries.
After his assault on his father, Su also attacked his mother, Madam Wong Ah Boey, 69, that day.
Su grabbed Madam Wong by the head and hit her against the wall before slapping and punching her.
Ms Foo called the police after regaining consciousness.
Saying that this was “a tragic case”, Justice Ramesh added: “The circumstances paint the picture of a family shattered, and relationships irreparably damaged and lost… The loss of familial support, in particular, is an unfortunate consequence as its presence would have undoubtedly played an important part in the proper rehabilitation of (Su).”
Su’s sentence is backdated to Jan 15, 2016, the day he was moved from the IMH to the Complex Medical Centre in Changi Prison.
