SINGAPORE: The Court of Appeal on Thursday (May 15) dismissed a bid by a man to overturn his murder conviction after a 2019 fatal fight at Orchard Towers.
Tan Sen Yang, now 33, was sentenced to life imprisonment and 12 strokes of the cane after he was found guilty of murder last year following a trial.
The victim, 31-year-old Satheesh Noel Gobidass, died from a stab wound to the neck after a fight at Orchard Towers in July 2019.
Tan was found to have inflicted the fatal injury while punching Mr Satheesh three times with a karambit knife in his hand.
Justices Tay Yong Kwang, Belinda Ang and Woo Bih Li upheld his conviction and sentence on Thursday.
Tan’s lawyers Chooi Jing Yen, Nichol Yeo and Qua Bi Qi argued that Tan should be acquitted of murder because the fatal blow to Mr Satheesh’s neck was accidental or unintentional.
Mr Chooi argued that Tan had intended to strike the face instead and this was because he believed doing so would not result in serious injury.
However, his blow landed on Mr Satheesh’s neck in the “dynamic situation” of the fight.
The justices unanimously rejected this argument.
“In a situation like the present case, what injury was intended and what was unintended or accidental must be looked at with common sense,” said Justice Tay, delivering the decision of the panel.
“There is no need to consider with surgical precision exactly which part of (Mr Satheesh’s) anatomy was intended to be attacked.”
The judge said that the way Tan had held the karambit knife and the fact that he had targeted the victim’s head region left “no room for doubt” that he intended to inflict a serious injury to that part of the body.
“The neck and the face are not distinct locations of the body in the circumstances of this case,” Justice Tay added.
Before the fatal fight at about 6.30am on Jul 2, 2019, Tan’s group had got into a dispute with acquaintances of Mr Satheesh while leaving a club on the second floor.
During this dispute, Tan brandished the karambit knife and hurt two members of the rival group on the face and the finger.
Subsequently, on the ground floor of Orchard Towers, Mr Satheesh, who was alone, confronted a member of Tan’s group and they got into a fight.
Closed-circuit television cameras captured this scene, including Tan initially stepping out of the building, then returning and joining in the assault on Mr Satheesh.