Teens plead guilty to violent attacks on young men
TODAY file photo
SINGAPORE — Two teenagers armed themselves with kitchen, watermelon and sheathed baton knives, and decided to attack separate victims on the same day, even though they were unprovoked and had no prior contact with their victims.
Former car-washer Muhammad Taufiq Mohamad Raffi, 18, and Sivaraj Manickam, 19, who was unemployed, separately pleaded guilty today (Dec 17) to one count of voluntarily causing hurt, and another count of voluntarily causing grievous hurt with a weapon of offence that is likely to cause death.
District Judge Mathew Joseph said today there has been an upsurge in violent crimes and perhaps, the message has not gone out yet, so the courts “need to take a serious view of this”.
On Sept 14, some time past midnight, Taufiq and Sivaraj saw a group of about seven to eight young people sitting outside McDonald’s at Hougang Avenue 8. Even though there was no confrontation, the pair “perceived that the youths were staring at them”, Deputy Public Prosecutor Krsytle Chiang said.
Upset by this, the pair took a taxi to Sivaraj’s home to grab some knives before returning to the fast-food outlet, where they spotted Mr Chen Cheng Jun, 21, and his two friends. Taufiq and Sivaraj “simply assumed” that the trio were part of the group they saw earlier and made their move.
Sivaraj used a sheathed baton knife to hit Mr Chen’s face and head, while Taufiq slashed him repeatedly with a kitchen knife. Sivaraj also assaulted the victim’s friends.
Mr Chen was given 14 days of medical leave after the attack.
Earlier that day, the pair had bought two watermelon knives with the intention to commit robbery “as a means to obtain fast cash”. While walking along Lorong Napiri off Yio Chu Kang Road, they saw Muhammad Nasrun Isa, 16. Unhappy with Nasrun’s “expression and manner of walking”, they kicked him on his back, and started slashing his head and body with the knives. The victim was later hospitalised four days due to his injuries.
Taufiq and Sivaraj will be separately sentenced on Jan 7.
