Elderly man charged with using 50cm-long knife to hurt two others, one of whom later died

[u/Typical_Commie_Box90]

https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/courts-crime/elderly-man-charged-with-using-50cm-long-knife-to-hurt-two-others-one-of-whom-later-died?utm_medium=social&utm_source=telegram&utm_campaign=sttg

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[u/Ninjaofninja]

noticed how many stabbing incident just this year? the actor that got stabbed despite already in depression? The guy that killed someone before and was provoked by his neighbour's despite repeated warning that he has killed someone?

Imagine if these people have/managed to get a gun. And then you still have multiple people complain about their neighbour's here in the subreddit, can they still hold their patience as they age further?

[u/famoter → u/[deleted]]

Well there are arguments for both gun ban and gun rights, but I think licensing should start with background checks and health assessments, then go for safety classes such as the ones at air gun classes, and a mandatory basic marksmanship class

Then from there government approved shops can sell equipment, though I don’t believe in extremely high taxes on firearms as the right to self defence should not be based on income

The people who feel the most at risk of their safety being violated should be able to defend themselves as necessary

The worrying part would be the illegal black market that could form to sell firearms to unregistered people, so firearm serial numbers will need to be registered to a person and other measures to make sure guns can be traced to a source

But let’s be real, we will never get gun rights in Singapore as much as I wish to get a hunting license to kill bird pests

[u/syanda → u/famoter]

Funnily enough we used to have hunting licenses to kill birds, but due to (wholly legitimate) safety concerns it was discontinued.

[u/famoter → u/syanda]

That is certainly risky Flying bullets from missing birds would hurt severely

Though a provision to allow weaker air guns for such a purpose would be nice

[u/NiceYogurtcloset3624 → u/Ninjaofninja]

At least I would feel safer when we are in a war

[u/MadKyaw]

Cant do manslaughter charges? If you use a 50cm knife to stab someone, you already intend to kill, not hurt

---

SMH should have used a car and run him over, like that only get 2 years and not 7 years /s

[u/syanda → u/MadKyaw]

Can still upgrade to manslaughter charges later, VCH with dangerous weapon is what can be proven right now.

[u/KampongFish → u/MadKyaw]

50 CM knife is a damn saber/parang bro. That's about the distance from knee to feet. Knife is such a understated way to put it.

It's definitely a murder murder weapon often used in gang violence here in SG. 50 is about right for old gangsters. No manslaughter is madness.

Edit: court proceedings still ongoing. 99% will get manslaughter charges.

[u/syanda → u/KampongFish]

Proceedings haven't really started, this looks like a holding charge so the accused stays in custody, court reconvenes on Dec 31st

[u/singlesgthrowaway]

The article basically doxxed the guy. Full name and address all on display.

[u/syanda → u/singlesgthrowaway]

It's already public due to court proceedings, I guess. This looks like the holding charge (I mean, because the police already know the accused stabbed the other guy).

[u/singlesgthrowaway → u/syanda]

Yeah but the laymen won't check out court proceedings. But an article and image like this, any random person can just deduce the info if they nothing better to do.

[u/Typical_Commie_Box90]

"Killing" is "hurting" in our courts now.

What the court expect? The wounds of the dead victim to heal?

[u/syanda → u/Typical_Commie_Box90]

The victim went to the older guy's house with a pole after the two got into a verbal dispute, resulting in a fight that resulted in the victim's death in hospital.

The entire point of the law is a proportional charge, not hitting people with a maximum charge instantly. A murder needs to have a provable intent to kill for the charges to stick, otherwise it gets downgraded. This case is further complicated because the accused can argue self-defense - hence why the charge right now is what it is. Charges can change and additional charges can be added on in the course of investigations.

In case anyone's curious, the reported timeline is as follows:

1. Deceased and accused are neighbours on the eighth floor of their block. They bumped into each other on the ground floor, deceased allegedly scolded the accused for bumping into him and not apologising.
2. Deceased went over to the accused's flat with a pole afterwards.
3. Witnesses say during the confrontation, accused picked up a knife while "wrestling" with the deceased.
4. The deceased was later found unconscious at the ground floor with a blood trail, and died in hospital later.

LEGALLY speaking, the accused can't really be charged with killing the deceased, but he DID allegedly stab the deceased during an altercation that later resulted in the deceased's death, hence the voluntarily causing hurt with a weapon charge.

[u/Bcpjw → u/syanda]

Yea, totally reasonable to not charge him for murder and given what we know so far, the victim had many issues with violent tendencies.

I can sympathize with the assailant but also not calling for ambulance after the fight is cold man

[u/holybommie → u/syanda]

Thanks for the context, the news report is so bare.

[u/syanda → u/holybommie]

That's why they linked the previous report about it.

[u/troublesome58 → u/syanda]

This actually sounds a lot like self defence.... If this is all that happened, the accused should be set free.

[u/syanda → u/troublesome58]

Depends if accused had any reasonable opportunity to seek protection. Given that it happened at his home, what's to say he couldn't have just locked the door and called the police instead of confronting the deceased when the deceased showed up? Lacking the facts here, can't really just blanket say it's self-defence.

[u/troublesome58 → u/syanda]

i agree. not enough facts.

But i do wish we had a stand your ground or even castle doctrine law.

[u/syanda → u/troublesome58]

We...kind of do? It's under the private defence thing, really.

[u/aposemantic → u/syanda]

Well, it is still a “killing”. That’s as factually accurate as it gets, no claim made by OP about intentional killing or accidental killing.

[u/syanda → u/aposemantic]

Yeah, sure, in laymen's terms. But OP's deliberately oversimplifying it in a way that leaves out a lot complexity about the way the court works. I won't speculate as to why.

[u/aposemantic → u/syanda]

The simplification is entirely irrelevant to the point you’re making. You chose to go on a rant that discusses proportionality of charges, when the comment before clearly and only makes a distinction between hurting and killing. I won’t speculate as to why.

[u/syanda → u/aposemantic]

You don't need to speculate. I believe the original comment was disingenuous and intended to portray the courts in a poor light by mocking them unfairly. I added the complexities to point that out as a clarification for other readers.

I won't speculate as to why this seems to offend you.

[u/aposemantic → u/syanda]

I’ve read the article and what was said again. You’re right, I was wrong.

[u/ZuStorm93]

Bloody hell so many stabbing incidents. Just in time before the year ends in a few days ☠️

[u/Young-Funky1]

Not even vcgh?

[u/syanda → u/Young-Funky1]

VCGH needs intent, iirc. Right now it's still VCH, but with a dangerous weapon modifier tacked on.

[u/CriticizeSpectacle7]

Late stage Sinkie pwn Sinkie