Orchard Towers death: Last man accused of murder gets fresh charges, including disfiguring man

SINGAPORE: The last person facing a charge of murder in a brawl at Orchard Towers more than two years ago received 10 new charges on Friday (Oct 1), including two linked to the fatal incident.

Tan Sen Yang, 30, is now accused of permanently disfiguring a man's face with a karambit knife on the morning of Jul 2, 2019, minutes before he allegedly murdered 31-year-old Satheesh Noel Gobidass.

His second fresh charge linked to the Orchard Towers brawl is for waving the same knife and cutting the index finger of a man at the entrance of Naughty Girl Club that morning.

Tan was charged with murdering Mr Satheesh in July 2019, and was originally accused of doing so with six other co-accused. The six later had their murder charges reduced to various offences.

Tan was handed 10 new charges on Friday, including: Voluntarily causing grievous hurt by dangerous weapon or means, voluntarily causing hurt with a dangerous weapon, voluntarily causing hurt to deter a public servant from his duty, causing hurt by a rash act, criminal intimidation and mischief.

The other eight charges that are not linked to the Orchard Towers fatal brawl are mostly violence-related offences, including: Assault at St James Power Station in February 2017, a cleaver attack at Orchard Towers in March 2017, a stabbing at a Sengkang void deck in August 2016 and assault at a driving centre in November 2015.

The day before Mr Satheesh's death, Tan allegedly punched a parking enforcement officer at Nassim Road and toppled his motorcycle.

The prosecutor told the court that Tan has a pending pre-trial conference in the High Court.

The six co-accused in the fatal Orchard Towers brawl on Jul 2, 2019, have been sentenced.

Ang Da Yuan was sentenced in March 2020 to eight months' jail and six strokes of the cane, while Joel Tan Yun Sheng received four weeks' jail for voluntarily causing hurt to Mr Satheesh by common intention.

Chan Jia Xing was given a conditional warning in October 2020 for a reduced charge of consorting with a person possessing an offensive weapon.

The sole woman in the case, Natalie Siow Yu Zhen, was given five months' jail in October 2020, while Loo Boon Chong was given five months' jail and fined S$1,000 in January this year.

Tan Hong Sheng was given four years and nine months' jail and 12 strokes of the cane in March, after pleading guilty to three charges of rioting, being a member of an unlawful assembly to assault a person and consorting with a person who had an offensive weapon.

In October last year, the Attorney-General's Chambers issued a statement clarifying the reduced charges in the case.