5 men attack 20-year-old with knife, causing disability

Armed with kitchen knives and fuelled by adrenaline, a group of five young men tackled, hacked and slashed a 20-year-old man at around midnight on Dec 6, 2023.

A graphic video of the attack, which was recorded by a female member of the group, was played out in court on July 15.

The court heard the group had unleashed the assault on the victim, referred to as V2 in court, after V2 purportedly showed an intimate video of himself and his ex-girlfriend, only referred to as V1 in court, recorded on his smartphone.

At the time of the attack, V1 was in a relationship with one of the accused in the group, referred to as B1.

B1, who was 20 at the time of the attack, was angered after finding out V2 had shown the video to a mutual friend, and wanted to confront V2.

In the video of the assault on V2 shown in court, the group was seen chasing after V2 through a residential estate.

V2 was momentarily caught and pinned down but managed to get up and run again until he was cornered by the group. He could be seen in a state of panic and undress, as his shirt had been torn off during the chase.

At least one member of the group could be seen swinging a knife at V2 during the chase.

Once cornered, V2 could be heard pleading for mercy while B1 confronted him, hitting his arm and face with a knife.

Moments later, B1 was seen forcefully hacking at V2’s left arm with the knife. Blood could be seen spurting out immediately.

V2 fell to the ground and he was filmed in this bloodied state.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Claire Poh said V2 will suffer a permanent disability to his left wrist, finger and thumb extension, and is expected to experience sensory deficit as a result of the assault.

On July 15, four of the accused persons - including three brothers aged between 17 and 20 - pleaded guilty to their role in the assault.

Muhammad Putera Sufaizyan Muhammad Faizal, who was 19 at the time of the assault, pleaded guilty to one charge of rioting with a deadly weapon.

He had slashed V2 a total of three times before disposing of his bread knife at Bukit Batok Nature Reserve Park.

The prosecution has called for a reformative training suitability report, and his case will be heard again on Aug 5.

DPP Poh had objected to a probation suitability report, pointing out that Putera was on electronic tagging under a supervision scheme when he committed the assault.

DPP Poh said he had cut his tag on December 6, 2023.

Putera, who had appeared via video link, stared blankly and appeared nonchalant when his charge was read to him.

DPP Poh said the teenager was previously sentenced to a stint in juvenile home for theft in dwelling, and separately reformative training for a host of offences including voluntarily causing hurt and mischief.

The court had also heard three members of the group, referred to as B2, B3 and B4, are brothers.

B2, who is 20, is the oldest of the three, and is currently serving his national service. He pleaded guilty to one charge of rioting, and separately to one charge of giving his Singpass details to an unknown individual in exchange for $3,000.

B3, a 17-year-old student, is the youngest brother. He pleaded guilty to one charge of rioting and separately one charge of voluntarily causing hurt.

The court heard B1 had given B3 the knife he used to slash V2 for disposal. B3 had then given the knife to another unidentified man. B1’s knife has not been recovered.

The judge called for a reformative training suitability report for both B2 and B3, after the prosecution argued that both are not suitable for probation.

B4, who is 18 and also a student, pleaded guilty to being a member of an unlawful assembly. The judge called for a probation suitability report for him.

All three brothers will return for sentencing on Sept 2.