2024.7.1 River Valley High School death: Teen sentenced to 16 years’ jail for killing schoolmate with axe in 2021
认为16年监刑过重 立化中学命案19岁被告上诉要求坐牢八至10年
2024.7.1
这起震惊全国的命案发生于2021年7月19日上午11时许，死者是立化中学中一生韩喆凯（图）。法庭原本禁止媒体报道死者名字，但韩喆凯双亲通过控方申请撤销禁令，去年12月获得法官批准。（档案照片）
立化中学命案19岁被告上诉至最高法院上诉庭，要求将现有的16年监刑减至八至10年。
辩方律师苏呢尔星期一（7月1日）早上向以大法官梅达顺为首的三司进行上诉陈词时指出，高庭早前的判刑未充分考虑被告是受严重抑郁症影响而犯下误杀罪，以致法庭对被告判予过重的16年监刑。
符晓平法官去年12月为这起备受瞩目的校园命案宣判时说，被告患有严重抑郁症，也清楚知道校园杀人计划是错误的，但他还是做了精心部署，下定决心执行如此暴力与残忍的命案。
苏呢尔对法官的这一看法做出反驳，他说，被告能在案发前计划如何杀人，不意味着他的理智未受严重抑郁症的显著影响。
根据精神评估报告，若非因案发时患有抑郁症、影响了他做出逻辑判断的能力，被告不会决定执行杀人计划。苏呢尔认为，被告案发前等于活在“幻想世界”（fantasy world）中。
这起震惊全国的命案发生于2021年7月19日上午11时许，死者是中一生韩喆凯。由于被告犯案时仅16岁，根据儿童与青少年法令，媒体不得公开他的身份。法庭原本也禁止媒体报道死者名字，但韩喆凯双亲通过控方申请撤销禁令，获得法官批准。
案发前，被告在受严重抑郁症困扰的情况下，自觉一无是处，认为人生无望。他尝试以不同方法自寻短见，但都以失败告终，于是想到先在校园杀人，再由警方朝他开枪，想借此寻求解脱。
当时被告16岁，与13岁的死者韩喆凯并不认识。
案发当天，韩喆凯独自走入校园厕所，殊不知厕所里已被人预先藏了斧头和刀子，而被告此时正在附近守候。
被告随后进入厕所，从后用斧头攻击韩喆凯，直至后者一动也不动地躺在地板上。过程中，被告对韩喆凯说了一句：“对不起。”
被告事后觉得情绪得到释放，但同时感到愧疚，决定放弃杀更多人的计划并自行报警。上诉案仍在审理中。
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立化中学命案18岁被告判监16年 高庭：患抑郁症不等于能开杀戒
2023年12月01日
一个无形无影的精神疾病，一次骇人血腥的杀人事件，酿成两起悲剧，法庭对这起前所未见的命案做出发人深省的判决。立化中学命案死者韩喆凯断送性命，年仅18岁的凶手被判坐牢16年。
杀害韩喆凯的不是被告，而是可怕的精神疾病，这是辩方的说法。但这没有说服高庭法官符晓平，她下判时指出，无论病况有多严重，患抑郁症不等于能开杀戒。尽管被告患有严重抑郁症，他仍清楚知道校园杀人计划是错误的，但他还是做了精心部署，下定决心执行如此暴力与残忍的命案。
校园杀人事件震撼全国，引发人们关注真相，以及什么因素导致这般难以想象的悲剧发生。案件星期五（1日）在高庭过堂，揭露了其中来龙去脉。
受严重抑郁症困扰 被告自觉一无是处
在受严重抑郁症困扰的情况下，被告自觉一无是处，以为人生无望。他尝试用不同方法寻短见但不成功，于是想到先在校园杀人，再由警方朝他开枪，以此寻求解脱。当时被告16岁。
中一生韩喆凯并不认识读中四的被告。2021年7月19日上午11时许，13岁的韩喆凯独自走入校园内的厕所。他不知道厕所里已藏有斧头与刀子，也不知道被告正在附近守候。
被告随后进入厕所，从后用斧头攻击韩喆凯，直至后者动也不动地躺在地板上。过程中，被告对韩喆凯说了一句：“对不起。”
被告事后觉得情绪得到释放，但同时感到愧疚，他决定放弃杀更多人的计划并自行报警。
法官：不愿接受帮忙 被告须为自身病情负责
落网后，他被诊断在案发时患有中等程度的严重抑郁症，其病情成为本案下判时的关键考量因素，以及控辩双方争议的焦点。控方吁法官判被告坐牢介于12年至16年，辩方则要求判被告坐牢五年即可。
根据精神评估报告，若非因案发时患有抑郁症、影响了他做出逻辑判断的能力，被告不会决定执行杀人计划。辩方律师苏呢尔为被告求情时说，惩罚不应是本案判刑重点，而是如何让被告得到救赎。律师也呼吁当局给予学校更多资源，关注学生的心理健康。
不过，高庭法官符晓平下判时指出，尽管被告患病，他仍有自制能力，以及明白他所做的事情在道德上和法律上都是错误的。他在计划杀人时也展现了一定的冷血，同时反映他具有逻辑思考的能力。
被告不愿意透露内心情绪也不愿接受帮忙
除了患有精神疾病，在法官看来，另有两个主要因素促使被告犯案。这包括校方曾建议被告的家长带他寻求专业辅导与治疗，而被告的家长也很支持这么做，可是被告不愿意透露自己的内心情绪，也不愿接受帮忙。法官认为，在这一点上，被告必须负上责任。
案发至少半年前，被告开始观看网上的暴力影片，这是促使他决定杀人的第三个因素。被告知道他不应该观看这些暴力内容，但他还是持续这么做，有时候一个月一次，有时候一周两次。被告在案发前写了两首有关校园杀人案的诗，法官说，诗的内容让人困扰。
由于被告犯案时仅16岁，根据儿童与青少年法令，媒体不得公开他的身份。法庭原本禁止媒体报道死者名字，但韩喆凯双亲通过控方申请撤销禁令，获得法官批准。
超过40名公众星期五前来听审，比一般聆讯的人数多，当中包括被告的双亲与兄弟。被告闻判时显得冷静，约10名亲友在案件下判后，获准分组与被告谈话。苏呢尔在休庭后告诉媒体，他觉得这次的判决过重，被告已决定针对刑罚提出上诉。
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River Valley High School death: Teen sentenced to 16 years’ jail for killing schoolmate with axe in 2021
UPDATED DEC 01, 2023
SINGAPORE – Suffering from depression, a 16-year-old student at River Valley High School bought several weapons, including a combat axe, between March and April 2021.
Now 18, he was sentenced to 16 years in jail after pleading guilty on Dec 1 to killing a fellow student with an axe.
He had planned to slash people in school so that the police would shoot him to death.
On July 14, 2021, he took the axe and a knife to school in a badminton racquet bag, which he hid under a sink in the toilet, but failed to follow through with his plan.
He tried again on July 19, 2021.
At about 11.15am, he left his classroom and waited in the toilet, armed with the axe, and repeatedly slashed a 13-year-old student who had entered the toilet.
The two did not know each other.
The assailant, who cannot be named under the Children and Young Persons Act, pleaded guilty to a charge of culpable homicide.
He was originally handed a murder charge, but it was reduced in February.
On Dec 1, a previously imposed gag order on the name of the victim, Ethan Hun, was lifted by the High Court at his parents’ request.
In sentencing remarks, Justice Hoo Sheau Peng noted that Ethan’s parents had written that they have forgiven the accused, in reply to a letter of apology sent by the assailant’s parents shortly after the tragedy.
This was a display of remarkable strength and fortitude, said the judge.
She said she hoped that Ethan’s parents and other loved ones will find a measure of healing and closure from this tragedy.
As for the sentence, Justice Hoo said a clear message must be sent to others who might find themselves in the same state of mind as the assailant to deter them from entertaining the thought of engaging in similar conduct.
“This was a gratuitously violent killing, terrifying and incomprehensible in its randomness,” she said.
The judge said that while the teen’s decision to take his own life was attributable to his major depressive disorder, the condition did not prevent him from recognising that his plan to kill others was wrong.
The teen’s depression was but one of three major factors that contributed to the killing, and has been reflected in the prosecution’s decision to reduce the charge against him, said the judge.
She said he must also bear some responsibility for refusing to accept the professional help that was offered to him, and for continuing to expose himself to graphic videos depicting scenes of death before the onset of his depression.
The assailant appeared stoic in the dock and chatted calmly with his family and friends, who were allowed to speak to him after the sentence was passed.
His lawyer, Mr Sunil Sudheesan, told reporters that he would be appealing against the “crushing” sentence.
The lawyer had earlier told the court that the teen had a significant family history of mental illness on his father’s side.
Mr Sudheesan said the boy made two attempts at suicide in 2019, but his family did not realise the severity of his condition.
He was then assessed by the Institute of Mental Health (IMH) to have an adjustment reaction.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Sean Teh told the court that the teen started having suicidal thoughts in February 2019.
In April 2020, the boy started watching videos depicting actual scenes of human death.
In January 2021, he felt overwhelmed during the new school term and thought about killing himself. “The accused’s mood was low, and he did not want to interact with people or deal with school responsibilities,” said the prosecutor.
Having failed in his previous suicide attempts, the teen felt the only way he could overcome the psychological barrier of taking his own life was by getting someone else to kill him.
He eventually decided to go on a killing spree in school so that the police would have to shoot him.
Between February and March 2021, he wrote two poems that alluded to mass killings conducted in a school.
Between March and July 2021, he did numerous online searches for stabbings, school shootings and attacks, and suicide.
He also wrote a note on his mobile phone dated July 5, 2021, which stated his intent at suicide.
On March 6, 2021, he bought a tomahawk axe from a store.
On March 17, he bought a Cold Steel Trench Hawk axe measuring 50cm by 22cm and a sharpener from a second store.
In April that year, he bought a Morakniv bushcraft stainless steel knife measuring 23.5cm by 4cm from a third store.
The names of the stores were not mentioned in court.
The teen sent the axes and knife for sharpening at a store offering sharpening services at least once, and bought a badminton racquet bag to hide the weapons.
On July 14, 2021, he arrived in school earlier than usual, with the Trench Hawk axe, the knife and the badminton racquet bag, as well as a roll of “caution tape” with black and yellow stripes in his backpack.
He headed for one of the toilets in the school and cordoned off the corridor with the tape to prevent other students from going in.
He then placed the bag containing the weapons under a sink, and returned to his classroom.
He waited in a cubicle for an opportune time to attack someone, but could not bring himself to do so.
On July 19, 2021, he again left the bag of weapons under a sink and pasted the “caution tape” across the corridor before returning to his classroom.
When he returned to the toilet at about 11.15am, the tape was hanging from only one side of the wall, and there were students in the toilet.
He waited for them to leave, then closed the toilet door and windows to prevent the prospective victim’s screams from being heard.
At about 11.30am, after Ethan entered the toilet, the accused went out briefly to paste the tape across the corridor.
He then attacked Ethan, and said “I’m sorry”.
DPP Teh said the assailant claimed he felt catharsis and regret after the attack, and decided not to kill anyone else.
At about 11.35am, the teen left the toilet with the axe and approached other students to call the police, but they ran away.
He complied when a teacher asked him to drop the axe, which she then kicked away from him. When the teen told her he had killed someone and asked her to call the police, she asked to see the body to confirm what he had told her.
When she saw Ethan on the toilet floor, she ran to seek help and bumped into a teacher who was on his way to the scene after he received a call from a student.
While the female teacher was contacting the school authorities, the teen called the police and reported: “I just killed someone. With an axe. I don’t know who. Are you going to send someone or not?”
The male teacher then called the police when he saw the body.
Paramedics and police officers arrived at about 11.50am, and the teen was arrested.
The teen, who has been in remand since the incident, took his O-level examinations in 2022 as a private candidate while in custody.
A psychiatric report from Dr Kenji Gwee of the IMH on Aug 18, 2021, said the teen was suffering from major depressive disorder around the time of the killing.
The onset of depression contributed to the killing, as it accentuated his fatalistic thinking.
The consumption of the videos desensitised him to the physicality and gore when taking a life, added the report.
In a subsequent report on June 20, 2023, Dr Gwee and Dr Cai Yiming said the teen’s depression is in remission, his recovery is progressing well, and his likelihood of reoffending remains low.
DPP Kumaresan Gohulabalan said this case of homicide was one that was truly unprecedented.
He sought between 12 and 16 years in jail, saying the killing was meticulously planned in the months prior to it.
“The facts show that the deceased, a young boy, was killed in cold blood as part of the accused’s detailed and methodical plan,” he said in sentencing submissions.
Mr Sudheesan said the teen has made proactive efforts to be more open in his conversations with his family, sharing more about his attitudes, problems and emotions.
The teen’s mother has completed a course in youth work, while his father is going through the same course.
The teen’s mother also took on a new job concerning youth mental health, while his father has committed to retire from his job to take care of his son upon his release.
Their son’s sentence has been backdated to July 19, 2021, when he was arrested.
Ethan’s parents were not in court, but their lawyer Mervyn Cheong was present to follow the case on their behalf.
In a statement through Mr Cheong, Ethan’s parents said: “We are heartbroken. We believe many who know Ethan will be too.
“Yet, we want to encourage everyone to remember Ethan fondly instead. Remember him for his goodness, his kind heart and his peace-loving nature. Remember that he would want us to be happy.”
2024.6.26 Three women, aged between 25 and 35, will be charged in court on 27 June 2024 for their alleged involvement in organising a procession without a permit on 2 February 2024 along the perimeter of the Istana, which is a prohibited area under the Public Order Act 2009.
Three Women To Be Charged With Offences Under The Public Order Act
Three women, aged between 25 and 35, will be charged in court on 27 June 2024 for their alleged involvement in organising a procession without a permit on 2 February 2024 along the perimeter of the Istana, which is a prohibited area under the Public Order Act 2009.
The women had allegedly organised a procession to show their support for the Palestinian cause, including soliciting attendance online. On 2 February 2024, a group of about 70 people gathered outside a shopping mall along Orchard Road and then walked as a group to the Istana while holding open umbrellas that had been self-painted with a watermelon graphic. They did not have a permit under Section 7 of the Public Order Act 2009 to carry out the procession.
The 35-year-old woman will be charged for one count of abetment of organising a public procession in a prohibited area under Section 15(1) of the Public Order Act 2009 read with Section 109 of the Penal Code 1871. The woman had previously been issued a stern warning on 5 December 2017 and a 24-month conditional warning on 30 November 2021 for her involvement in other public assemblies without a permit. The other two women, aged 25 and 29, will each be charged for one count of organising a public procession in a prohibited area under Section 15(1) of the Public Order Act 2009. The woman aged 29 is under investigation for offences in a separate incident.
If found guilty, the offence under Section 15(1) of the Public Order Act 2009 is punishable with a fine of up to $10,000 or imprisonment for a term of up to six months or both.
Police investigations into others who may have been involved in the same event are ongoing.
As advised in previous news releases, the Police would like to urge members of the public not to engage in activities that will damage the peace, public order and social harmony which Singaporeans have worked hard to achieve, and enjoy today. We understand that some people may feel strongly about the Israel-Hamas conflict, but they should not break the law to express their views, nor emulate the protestors in other countries. They could instead participate in the many forums and dialogues, and donation drives, which have been appropriately organised on the issue.
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三名年龄在 25 岁至 35 岁之间的女子将于 2024 年 6 月 27 日在法庭上被起诉，罪名是她们涉嫌于 2024 年 2 月 2 日在总统府周边组织未经许可的游行，而根据《2009 年公共秩序法》，总统府属于禁区。
这些女子据称组织了一场游行，以表示对巴勒斯坦事业的支持，包括在网上招揽参加者。2024 年 2 月 2 日，一群约 70 人聚集在乌节路的一家购物中心外，然后一起走到总统府，手里拿着涂有西瓜图案的撑开雨伞。根据《2009 年公共秩序法》第 7 条，他们没有获得游行许可。
根据《2009 年公共秩序法》第 15(1) 条及《1871 年刑法典》第 109 条，这名 35 岁女子将被控一项在禁区组织公众游行教唆罪。该女子此前曾于 2017 年 12 月 5 日收到严厉警告，并于 2021 年 11 月 30 日收到 24 个月的有条件警告，罪名是她未经许可参与其他公众集会。另外两名女子分别为 25 岁和 29 岁，将分别被控一项在禁区组织公众游行罪。这名 29 岁的女子因另一起事件的罪行而接受调查。
如果罪名成立，根据《2009 年公共秩序法》第 15(1) 条，可处以最高 10,000 元罚款或最高六个月监禁，或两者并处。
警方正在对可能参与同一事件的其他人进行调查。
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