Gang member lied to police that his friend did not use weapon to slash man

Osmond Chia
The Straits Times
Jan 7, 2022

A gang member saw his friend slash another man with a knife. But when he was hauled up to the police station, he lied to the officers that his friend had not used a weapon.

On Friday (Jan 7), Edmund Kam Wei Liang, 23, was sentenced to 17 months and five weeks' jail and fined $4,000. He pleaded guilty to four charges for offences that include rioting and lying to the authorities.

Another five charges, which include flouting Covid-19 rules, were taken into consideration during sentencing.

The court heard that Kam was part of an unlawful secret society from 2014 to 2020 that operated in Singapore.

On May 10, 2020, he was with Teo Shou Ren, 29, at a garden in Jurong West, when the latter pulled out a knife to slash another man.

Court documents do not disclose further details of the victim, Teo Jia Wei, 27, nor of Teo Shou Ren.

Said Deputy Public Prosecutor Samuel Chew: "While (Kam) did not personally join in the assault against Jia Wei, (he) saw Shou Ren using a knife to slash Jia Wei."

When he was arrested the next day, Kam did not tell the police the truth, added DPP Chew.

Kam later admitted that he saw Teo Shou Ren carry a weapon behind his back when he committed the assault. Teo was then charged with voluntarily causing hurt with a dangerous weapon.

In a separate offence on Nov 18, 2018, Kam was part of a brawl at Thai disco Club V5 in Ming Arcade, where he and others from the gang were drinking.

One of them, Tan Hong Sheng, 27, became angry after a patron bumped into him, and he issued a fight challenge.

When the patron's friend, Mr Chionh Teck Soon, 26, stepped in to intervene, Kam and other gang members kicked and punched him in the face and body.

Tan and another member, Dino Teo Wei Chiang, 26, each picked up a glass bottle to hit Mr Chionh's head.

The incident lasted three minutes and the attackers fled after realising the police had been notified.

Mr Chionh was taken to hospital and suffered injuries to his head and a cut on his arm, said DPP Chew, who sought 20 months' jail and a fine of $4,000 to $6,000 for Kam.

Some of the gang members have already have dealt with in court, including Tan, who was given a 32-month jail term and four strokes of the cane.

Urging the judge to sentence Kam to 17 to 18 months' jail, the defence said in mitigation that Kam has a stable job as a car dealer and stayed out of trouble.

District Judge Kok Shu-En extended Kam's bail by a week to settle his personal matters and called Kam's bailor - his sister - forward to ensure that she was ready to accept the consequences if he broke bail conditions.