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SINGAPORE – The prosecution has urged a district court to sentence the main attacker in a fatal case of assault on Yishun in 2016 to five years in prison and eight strokes of the baton.
On Monday (October 5), Assistant District Attorney Jason Chua emphasized that Ryan Xavier Tay Seet Choong, now 24, had decided to take justice into his own hands and the crime led to the death of Shawn Ignatius Rodríguez.
The DPP added that the case involved the courts on his own account and Mr. Rodríguez, 26, was later found with more than 30 external injuries on his body.
He also told District Judge Tan Jen Tse that the attack was carried out by two people: Tay and Lawrence Lim Peck Beng, now 59 years old.
DPP Chua called for a year in jail for Lim and said that as Tay’s stepfather, he should have known better not to be an accessory to the assault.
However, Tay’s attorney, Peter Low, urged the court to request a report to assess his client’s suitability for a trial period, adding that Tay was a young offender.
Low also said Tay had been “frustrated” as his family made more than 50 police reports against Rodriguez before the tragedy, but “nothing happened.”
Lim is represented by attorney Ang Sin Teck, who also requested a lighter sentence for his client.
Ang told Judge Tan that Rodriguez, who visited his client’s home several times before his death, had made “life hell” for Lim, Tay and their family.
On August 24, after a trial, Judge Tan found Tay guilty of willfully causing serious harm to Mr. Rodríguez. Lim was found guilty of inciting his stepson to commit the crime.
The couple had decided to take matters into their own hands after Rodriguez repeatedly visited their apartment, and continued to do so even after the family filed 56 police reports against him.
Things took a tragic turn on July 9, 2016, when Tay assaulted Rodriguez, who was at the time doing his national service in the Republic of Singapore Air Force, and Rodriguez later died of traumatic asphyxia with an injury to the head.
DPPs Chua, Wong Kok Weng, and Chong Kee En had previously stated in their presentations that Mr. Rodriguez and Tay knew each other in 2006 when they were altar boys at the Church of Our Lady of the Sea Star in Yishun.
Tay, however, left eight years later, as he felt Rodriguez was “obsessed” with him.
Rodriguez then tried to communicate with Tay by making frequent phone calls and began wandering around the empty terrace of the latter’s house in Block 279 of 22 Yishun Street.
Prosecutors had said that in January 2016, Tay’s mother, Ms. Irene Ng, filed a magistrate’s complaint against Mr. Rodríguez that led to mediation proceedings in state courts.
Later, a mediation judge told Rodríguez to stop visiting Tay. Despite this, he continued to visit Yishun’s flat and went to the block on July 9 of that year.
Prosecutors had previously said: “At around 7.40pm, the deceased returned. Lawrence opened the door and yelled at the deceased for about five minutes and opened the door with the intention of physically involving him.”
“At that point, Ryan left the unit and the deceased began to flee. Ryan chased the deceased down the hallway and up the stairs on landing B of the elevator.”
A fight broke out between the two men and Tay then used his right knee to press against Mr. Rodríguez’s back, even though the latter did not fight.
Then, Lim sat on Mr. Rodriguez’s buttocks and performed a leg block by crossing the latter’s lower legs.
The court heard that some neighbors later brought items that included a rope and a raffia rope.
One of them, Lim Hock Piou, tied Rodríguez’s ankles while Lim held Rodríguez’s legs. Tay, meanwhile, continued to press his knee against his back.
Police arrived at the scene before Lim Hock Piou could finish tying Rodríguez’s legs.
A paramedic from the Singapore Civil Defense Force declared him dead at around 8.30pm.
The case was postponed until Monday afternoon.
For willfully causing serious harm, a criminal can be imprisoned for up to 10 years and fined or punished. Lim cannot be spanked because he is over 50 years old.
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