Reformative training for teen who slashed then schoolmate at ITE College East

A former Institute of Technical Education (ITE) College East student was sentenced to at least a year in reformative training on Wednesday (Jan 26) after he slashed his then schoolmate with a knife on campus over a staring incident.

At the time of the attack, Palanidas Ramadas, now 19, was out on bail for other offences, including cheating and driving without a licence.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Seah Ee Wei said that Palanidas attacked the victim "in a dangerous manner" and chased him when he tried to get away.

The victim, who was 19 years old at the time, escaped with cuts on his left shoulder and ear.

Palanidas will now be detained in a reformative training centre and made to follow a strict regimen that includes foot drills as well as counselling.

He was also told to pay the victim $135.66 in compensation over the attack.

For driving a car without a licence in an unrelated incident, Palanidas was disqualified from holding or obtaining all classes of driving licences for a year.

The Singaporean teenager pleaded guilty last month to eight charges for offences including causing hurt with a weapon and cheating by personation.

Another ITE student, then 18, had provided the bread knife Palanidas used in the attack.

The Straits Times understands that both teenagers are no longer students there.

The younger teenager was sentenced to 27 months' probation in November last year after he pleaded guilty to his role in the knife attack and being part of an attempted robbery in October 2019.

He cannot be named under the Children and Young Persons Act as he was 17 at the time of the attempted robbery.

Palanidas started his crime spree in early December 2020. While using a teenage girl's mobile phone, he came across pictures of a 31-year-old man's identity card and driving licence on the device.

The court heard that the man had sent the pictures to the girl as he was helping her sign up for a car-sharing service.

Without the girl's knowledge and the man's consent, Palanidas forwarded the pictures to his own mobile phone.

Palanidas, who did not have a driving licence, later used the man's information to rent vehicles from Shariot, a firm that provides car-sharing services.

His offences came to light after the Traffic Police stopped him while he was driving a car along the Pan-Island Expressway around 10.30am on Dec 30, 2020.

While out on bail on Feb 15 last year, Palanidas contacted his accomplice and asked him to take a bread knife to school as one of his friends had "problems" there.

The younger teenager took the weapon to school the next day.

Palanidas and the victim were in a campus canteen when they got into a verbal dispute over a staring incident.

Palanidas then asked the victim to meet him at a carpark of their school where he attacked the latter with the knife.

The victim, who managed to escape, called his father for help and the man alerted the police.

The victim was taken to Changi General Hospital and was given four days of medical leave.

Palanidas left his school after the attack and threw away the knife. He was arrested on Feb 17 last year.