Man given jail, caning for consorting with friend who smuggled firearm into Singapore, Latest Singapore News - The New Paper
Singapore

Man given jail, caning for consorting with friend who smuggled firearm into Singapore

This article is more than 12 months old

SINGAPORE - A man consorted with a fellow gang member who smuggled a pistol from Malaysia into Singapore to scare a rival group.

Amirul Asyraff Muhammad Junus, now 27, was on Wednesday (Dec 1) sentenced to five years and two weeks' jail with six strokes of the cane.

He had earlier pleaded guilty to consorting with Muhammad Ikram Abdul Aziz, 26, who unlawfully had a Shooters Sea Hawk pistol and eight bullets in his possession.

Amirul also admitted to being in possession of a baton in a public place.

In what was the first case involving the illegal possession of a firearm since 2009, Ikram was sentenced to seven years and 10 months' jail with six strokes of the cane in March this year after he pleaded guilty to being in possession of the weapon.

The court heard that the two Singaporean men were close friends and had played football for the Tanjong Pagar United under-18 team in 2012.

They later joined the same gang.

In January 2019, Amirul learnt that a man known as "Faris" had beaten up his former wife outside Club Baliza in Marina Square.

She later told Amirul that Faris belonged to another gang.

Amirul asked Ikram for his advice on how to solve the problem as he wanted to avenge his former wife.

Ikram then decided to obtain the pistol for their safety and to scare Faris, as well as the other members of the man's gang, to show that Amirul could not be bullied.

Ikram went to a tattoo shop in a Johor Baru shopping mall in February 2019 and met a man known only as "Boy JB".

Boy JB told the Singaporean that he would find a gun for him, and the pair exchanged mobile phone numbers.

Ikram went back to Malaysia a few days later and gave $900 to Boy JB.

Ikram later returned to Johor Baru with his parents in a car. He then deposited RM1,500 (S$490) into Boy JB's bank account.

Boy JB met him soon after to hand him the weapon, a pistol magazine and eight bullets. The court heard that Ikram then smuggled the illicit items into Singapore.

In earlier proceedings, Deputy Public Prosecutor Norine Tan said: "Ikram decided to bring the gun back while travelling with his parents as he observed that Customs officers would seldom check his belongings if he was travelling with his parents."

Some time in March 2019, he showed the weapon to Amirul, who rejected his suggestion to take the pistol to a "settlement talk" with the rival gang.

In an unrelated incident in September that year, Amirul was found with a baton in the top box of his motorcycle at Woodlands Checkpoint when he was entering Singapore from Malaysia.

He said he had found the weapon in his flat and had taken it with him to Malaysia to protect his girlfriend and himself during their trip.

The men's offences involving the firearm came to light the following month when two officers from the Central Narcotics Bureau detained Ikram at the void deck of Block 731 Jurong West Street 72 for suspected drug consumption.

They raided his flat and found the gun, the bullets and the magazine.

For the consorting charge, an offender can be sentenced to up to 10 years' jail and receive at least six strokes of the cane.

For possessing a baton in a public space, an offender can be jailed for up to a month and fined up to $5,000.

COURT & CRIME