SAF captain found guilty of causing death by rash act in Bionix case
He failed to keep a safe distance of 30m between Land Rover and infantry vehicle
A Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) captain linked to an incident in which a Bionix infantry fighting vehicle reversed and mounted a Land Rover, killing the driver, was yesterday found guilty of causing death by a rash act.
Corporal First Class (CFC) Liu Kai, a 22-year-old full-time national serviceman driving the Land Rover, was pinned under the Bionix vehicle and pronounced dead at the scene.
Ong Lin Jie, now 30, was also in the Land Rover when the tragedy took place during an exercise by the 42nd Battalion Singapore Armoured Regiment on Nov 3, 2018.
District Judge Jasvender Kaur found Ong had acted rashly by failing to keep a safe distance of 30m between the Land Rover and the Bionix and ordering CFC Liu to overtake it.
Ong, who was a platoon trainer with the Armour Unit Training Centre at the Armour Training Institute at the time, had given the order for the Land Rover to move forward though it was unsafe to do so and without first establishing communication with the other vehicle.
The court heard that during the exercise, a Bionix with call sign BX13 had stopped just before a T-junction. The Land Rover Ong and CFC Liu were in stopped about 30m behind it.
In their submissions earlier this year, Deputy Public Prosecutors Hay Hung Chun, Zhou Yihong, Angela Ang and Benedict Chan said Ong did not know why BX13 had stopped and ordered CFC Liu to overtake it on its left.
FORWARD
The DPPs said: "Prior to giving this order, (Ong) did not establish any communications with BX13. Liu Kai drove the Land Rover forward, thereby bringing it less than 30m away from BX13. BX13 fired three rounds (and) Liu Kai stopped the Land Rover."
At this point, the Land Rover was about 16m to 18m behind BX13, which started to reverse as part of the combat drill. It mounted the driver side of the Land Rover, pinning CFC Liu in his seat.
Ong, represented by lawyer Teo Choo Kee, had earlier testified that he did not expect BX13 to move backwards.
Ong, who has since been suspended from service, told Judge Kaur that he had thought the Bionix had identified a friendly vehicle in front of it prior to the incident, based on an exchange through radio communications between the Bionix commander and another soldier.
Ong will be sentenced on Dec 20.
In a statement to The Straits Times yesterday, the Ministry of Defence said: "The (SAF) has reminded commanders that they are held accountable for the safety of personnel under their charge and must adhere to training safety regulations.
"Those who are negligent or breach training safety regulations may face prosecution under the law or the SAF's disciplinary framework."
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