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The New Paper, Singapore, 1 July 2000
Bouncer attacks pub customer
by Chua Wei
Ricky Soh Heng Ann was jailed two years and ordered to be given six strokes of the cane. For causing grievous hurt, he could have been jailed up to seven years, fined and caned.
HE was hired for crowd control. But bouncer Ricky Soh Heng Ann lost control of himself.
He attacked lawyer Sheik Heikel Khalid Bafana, 27, punching and kicking him in the chest outside a pub.
The incident took place in the early hours of Jan 3 1998.
Shortly after midnight, Sheik Heikel and a few friends had gone to Moods Entertainment Pub on Scotts Walk. Soh, 37, stopped them at the door. The pub was crowded at the time, so he asked the group to wait outside for a while.
Then, the owner of the pub, Mr Chia Kean, popped out. It turned out that Mr Chia and Sheik Heikel were friends. So he and his friends gained entry, without having to pay any cover charge.
But the lawyer couldn't get over the fact that Soh had refused to let them in. He complained to Mr Chia.
Around 12.45 am, Mr Chia asked Sheik Heikel and Soh to clear up their misunderstanding outside the pub. They were just talking angrily at first.
Then suddenly, Soh punched Sheik Heikel in the face.
Stunned, the lawyer moved away, only to be drawn into a scuffle with Soh and his friend, Tiernan Gregory Fernando, 35.
Sheik Heikel was punched repeatedly on his chest and face before he fell to the ground in pain. But Soh continued to kick him after that.
Sheik Heikel lost consciousness. Luckily, his friends stopped the fight and sent him to hospital. He suffered bruises all over his body and fractured a left rib.
In court on Tuesday, Soh, now unemployed, pleaded guilty to attacking Sheik Heikel.
However Fernando, a businessman, has claimed trial.
Soh, who had previous convictions for fighting and drug consumption, said he did it in a moment of anger.
But District Judge Syed Alwee replied: "As a security officer, not only did you not look after the welfare of the pub's customers, you even assaulted one of them."
Copyright © 2000 Singapore Press Holdings. All rights reserved.
The New Paper, Singapore, 6 July 2000
He robbed petrol kiosk of $800 in the dead of night
By Chua Wei Yng
Kamarudin Idris was jailed 3½ years and ordered to be given 12 strokes of the cane. For robbery, he could have been jailed up to 14 years and caned.
FOR cashier Asrino Asmawi, 21, the night started out just like any other. Together with another cashier and a pump attendant, he worked the night shift at a Mobil petrol kiosk on Tanjong Katong Road.
But at about 2.40 am on March 7 this year, two robbers held a knife to Mr Asrino's stomach.
The robbers, Kamarudin Idris, 29, and his accomplice, went through their moves smoothly. Leaving their motorcycle parked outside, they walked into the kiosk and asked for a packet of cigarettes.
Mr Asrino reached for one, which cost $6.20, and handed it over. Kamarudin then took out a $50 bill. Expecting him to hand it over, Mr Asrino opened the cash register.
That's when the accomplice sprung into action, shoving a small folding knife against the cashier's shirt.
His face hidden by a black crash helmet, he yelled at Mr Asrino in Malay: "Surrender all your money!"
Frightened, the cashier did as he was told. The accomplice then scooped up a total of $800 from the open cash register into a plastic bag.
Meanwhile, Kamarudin acted as a lookout. The robbers didn't forget to take the pack of cigarettes before fleeing on their motorcycle.
Kamarudin and his accomplice split the money and the cigarettes equally.
But they were arrested at their homes on March 25.
In court on June 26, Kamarudin pleaded guilty to robbing the petrol kiosk. The case of his accomplice is still pending.
Copyright © 2000 Singapore Press Holdings. All rights reserved.
The Straits Times, Singapore, 15 July 2000
He sold Ecstasy pills on the Net
HE WAS no ordinary cyber-pal.
The 19-year-old used an Internet chatroom to sell Ecstasy pills.
Rizal Hamzah made the mistake of chatting with an undercover Central Narcotics Bureau officer on the Internet Relay Chat in January.
Not realising who he was talking to, he offered the pills to the officer on Feb 23.
He gave his contact number and photograph.
Five days later, he agreed to sell the officer six pills for $25 each and agreed to meet him that night. An ambush was laid for Rizal at Khatib MRT station.
As soon as the pills changed hands, other officers arrested him.
For his efforts, he was given five years' jail and six strokes of the cane yesterday for drug trafficking.
He was also sentenced to a year's imprisonment for consumption of a controlled drug.
Copyright © 2000 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. All rights reserved.
The Straits Times, Singapore, 20 July 2000
Teens jailed for "senseless" torture of girl
They held 14-year-old captive in flat for 17 days, beat her, scalded her and forced her to perform indecent acts
By Karen Wong
THREE 17-year-olds who tortured a 14-year-old girl repeatedly over 17 days in a flat in Ang Mo Kio were sentenced yesterday to jail terms of between two and seven years.
The boys will also be caned.
Sentencing them, District Judge Seng Kwang Boon described the case as one of the worst he had come across.
The "violent and serious nature of the case" and its "gruesome facts" called for a jail term and caning, where necessary, he said.
He sentenced Neo Soo Kai, a cook, to seven years' jail and 14 strokes of the cane.
Melvin Yeo Yew Beng, who is unemployed, will spend six years behind bars and be caned 16 strokes.
The judge sentenced Neo's girlfriend, an Institute of Technical Education student, to two years' jail.
She cannot be named because two of her three sisters accused of being involved in the assault are juveniles. Naming her would identify them.
The sisters are 12, 15 and 18 years old. The case against another youth, Yeo Kim Han, 17, is also pending.
The victim, who was held in a two-room flat from Dec 15 to Jan 2, was in hospital for 34 days after her ordeal and is badly scarred.
Neo, his girlfriend and Yeo admitted their guilt last Saturday.
All of them had assaulted her, taking turns to kick, punch and slap her. They also forced their victim to strip naked and perform indecent acts.
Neo hit her on the back with a metal chair, causing her to fall on her face. One of her front teeth came loose and he yanked it out.
When they told her to take off her clothes and perform indecent acts, Neo threatened to beat her if she did not obey, and Yeo also threatened to hit her.
Afraid of being hit again, she stripped and did as they commanded while they all watched.
On another occasion, Neo tied her to a chair in the kitchen and scalded her with boiling water.
Yeo beat her with a wooden stick and an iron rod and also scalded her.
He is also guilty of robbing a 21-year-old youth of his wallet in March 1997, at Ang Mo Kio Central.
The girl could not escape as they kept the grille gates locked, with Yeo and Neo taking turns to guard the key.
When she telephoned home, she did not dare tell her family what she was going through for fear of further abuse.
On New Year's Eve, the three of them tied the girl to the sofa and taped up her mouth shut, so she could not escape while they were out celebrating.
The judge said to them: "You have tortured this young defenceless girl for 17 long days. You have inflicted extreme pain on her and humiliated her. You have disfigured her body and her face.
"Your assaults were senseless."
He added: "Just because you are young, does not mean that you can go around committing serious offences and hope to get off lightly."
The three showed little emotion as the judge passed sentence.
Copyright © 2000 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. All rights reserved.
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