Man who did fatal necklock and chokehold on father after fighting over money jailed 1 year

A man was sentenced to 12 months’ jail on Thursday (Aug 24) for committing a rash act which led to his father’s death. 

Mark Tan Peng Liat, 31, was initially accused of committing culpable homicide not amounting to murder.

He had placed his father, Mr Tan Kok Keng, 67, in a necklock and chokehold during a dispute at their West Coast Rise home on Feb 2015, reports The Straits Times.  

The deceased had discovered that Mark was withdrawing large sums of money from the two’s joint account and accused him of theft, which led to a scuffle. 

District Judge Eddy Tham found Mark Tan guilty of the reduced charge on June 8, after a nine-day trial.

During the sentencing, Judge Tham said that he had no doubt that the accused’s intention was to restrain his father and stop the older man’s assault on him.

He also noted that the accused had attempted to restrain his father by hooking his right arm around the deceased’s neck.

With his left hand, Mark gripped his father’s neck around the collarbone.

The elderly man struggled in vain to escape the lock but stopped breathing after a while. 

Said the judge:

“Given the volatility of the situation, where the accused had applied a form of restraint which he had been taught and exercised before, I found it difficult to say that it is proven beyond a reasonable doubt that the accused knew that his acts were likely to cause death.

"I found that the accused had instead committed an act so recklessly that it would amount to what is considered a rash act.”

Read the full story at The Straits Times.