Jail for woman who masterminded Bugis knife attack while on bail
A woman, who was released on bail in December 2022 over the theft of a motorcycle, reoffended three months later when she masterminded a knife attack that left two victims injured at the Rest Bugis Hotel.
On Oct 3, Norliana Hazuliani, 25, was sentenced to two years and two months’ jail after she pleaded guilty to multiple charges including assault, theft and drug consumption.
She was also disqualified from holding or obtaining all classes of driving licences for a year from her release date. She was the third and last person involved in the attack to be dealt with in court.
One of her accomplices, Mohammad Ghufran Sinarfadhli, then 23, was sentenced to three years and 11 months’ jail in April after he pleaded guilty to one charge of voluntarily causing hurt with a dangerous weapon and three drug-related offences.
Her second accomplice, an Indonesian youth, then 19, was ordered to undergo reformative training in November 2023. Those given such a sentence are detained in a centre to observe a strict regimen that can include foot drills and counselling.
Identified in court documents as B1, he cannot be named as he was below 18 years old when he committed some of his offences.
He had pleaded guilty to multiple charges, including assault, riding a motorcycle without a licence, and being a member of an unlawful assembly.
Norliana started her crime spree on Nov 29, 2022, when she acted as a lookout while a 24-year-old man stole a motorcycle in Clementi Avenue 1.
A complainant alerted the police and the pair ran away. Norliana was arrested on Dec 24, 2022, and released on bail the next day.
In an unrelated case, she was in a room at the Rest Bugis Hotel in Jalan Kubor, near Arab Street, with a group of people at around midnight on March 27, 2023, when she got into a disagreement with a 20-year-old man.
She was unhappy that he had told her she should not be with her boyfriend who was then in prison.
She was on a video call with B1 and Ghufran later that morning when the 20-year-old man interrupted the conversation and insulted the pair.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Quek Lu Yi told the court that Norliana then invited B1 and Ghufran to the hotel room to teach the man a lesson, adding: “Specifically, (she) told them to come over and to bring knives with them as (the man) was ‘dangerous’.”
Despite not having a motorcycle licence, B1 – who had packed a bag with two serrated knives – rode a motorcycle with Ghufran riding pillion.
When the pair reached the hotel, Norliana took them up to the room. She knocked on the door and a 19-year-old woman, identified in court documents as V1, opened it.
The DPP said: “V1 accidentally bumped into B1. B1 slashed V1 twice with his knife, causing two large lacerations, before Norliana stopped him.
“Ghufran and B1 proceeded to slash (the 20-year-old man) multiple times at multiple parts of his body, including his head, shoulder and arms...(He) fell to the floor and B1 slashed at his legs a few more times...the slashing lasted for about five minutes. B1 and Ghufran then left the hotel room.”
The male victim, who was bleeding profusely from his multiple wounds, left the room and went to another hotel. He then called Norliana on the phone, and she admitted that she was part of the plan behind the knife attack.
Meanwhile, employees at Rest Bugis Hotel saw blood in the room and alerted the police. Court documents did not say what happened next, but an ambulance took the male victim to Tan Tock Seng Hospital.
He was discharged four days later.
A medical report stated that injuries to his right knee joint and left hand may result in permanent disabilities.
Norliana was arrested at a Geylang hotel on the same day as the attack and officers seized four packets of suspicious-looking substances from her.
They were later found to contain drugs including methamphetamine and ketamine. Her urine samples were also found to contain traces of methamphetamine, the court heard.
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