Advertisement

Teen admits to roles in ITE knife attack, $20,000 robbery attempt

Gavel stock photo
Gavel stock photo

SINGAPORE — An 18-year-old former Institute of Technical Education (ITE) student pleaded guilty at the State Courts on Monday (25 October) to aiding another ITE student in a knife attack on campus earlier this year.

The 18-year-old, who also took part in a conspiracy to rob $20,000 from another victim on a separate occasion, will be sentenced at a later date.

The culprit cannot be named as he was 17 at the time of the offence.

On 15 February this year, the culprit was contacted by an older student who asked him to bring a bread knife to school. The culprit met the older student at about 4am the next day with the knife. They had supper with a group of friends before going to school.

Just after noon, at a basement carpark, the older student took the knife from the culprit and repeatedly slashed another student.

When the victim tried to evade the assault by hiding behind a pillar, the culprit and an accomplice cornered him while the older student continued to slash the victim.

The victim managed to run home and later sought treatment at a hospital for the cuts on his left ear and left shoulder. He was given five days of medical leave.

Earlier, on 16 October 2019, the culprit, together with five accomplices, also took part in an attempted robbery of another victim.

An eyewitness who saw the commotion called the police who tracked down the culprit and found an extendable baton in his home. The culprit had brought the baton along during the attempted robbery and passed it to an accomplice who used it to hit the victim.

The robbery failed as the victim refused to let go of his bag of cash containing $20,000.

The prosecution is seeking reformative training while the culprit's lawyer Josephus Tan asked for probation. The culprit is expected to be sentenced by the community court next month, pending reports assessing his suitability for both sentencing options.

For causing hurt with a weapon, the maximum sentence is seven years' jail along with a fine and caning.

The punishment for causing hurt in a robbery attempt is a jail term of between five and 20 years, with at least 12 strokes of the cane.

Stay in the know on-the-go: Join Yahoo Singapore's Telegram channel at http://t.me/YahooSingapore