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SINGAPORE: A 24-year-old man was sentenced to four years in jail on Monday (October 5) for beating his alleged “stalker” to death in a 20-minute assault that was aided by his stepfather, and the judge refused to spanking because of the “somewhat unique nature” of the case.
Ryan Xavier Tay Seet Choong was terminated on a charge of willfully causing serious harm. He claimed that the victim, Shawn Ignatius Rodrigues, 26, had harassed him and his family for years.
Tay’s stepfather, Lawrence Lim Peck Beng, 59, was sentenced to eight months in jail for being an accessory to the crime by restraining the victim, sitting on his buttocks and performing a leg lock so that the victim could not free himself.
District Judge Tan Jen Tse said evidence displayed at trial revealed that the victim had harassed the two offenders for two years, resulting in 59 police reports.
The two men did not actively seek out Mr. Rodrigues, but only reacted when the victim harassed them at home, the judge said, adding that the “provocative behavior of the victim serves as a strong mitigating factor.”
The victim suffered fractures and died of traumatic asphyxiation after the 20-minute assault on a staircase outside the Yishun apartment of the two criminals in 2016.
READ: ‘I couldn’t take it’: Man on trial for beating church member to death told police victim was obsessed with him
Tay was 10 years old when he met the victim in a Catholic church where they were both altar boys. After Rodrigues developed a “special liking” for him, Tay said he began to feel uncomfortable and distanced himself from the victim.
He later realized that the victim had used a photo of Tay as her WhatsApp photo and was “disgusted”, prompting him to leave the church. After this, Mr. Rodrigues began to appear in front of his apartment to speak with him, Tay said.
Her stepfather said the victim harassed her family and made annoying calls to them over a period of about two years, increasing in frequency in 2015.
On the day Mr. Rodrigues died, he allegedly harassed the family in their apartment several times until Tay chased him and started fighting with him. Tay’s stepfather joined him soon after.
TAY CAUSED HER DEATH: FISCAL
Assistant District Attorney Jason Chua had asked for at least five years in prison and eight baton strokes for Tay, and at least one year in prison for Lim.
He pointed to aggravating factors in the case, such as the form of assault, which lasted 20 minutes, while Tay and Lim pinned Mr. Rodrigues to the ground.
Tay threw “multiple blows” at the victim, the prosecutor said, adding that more than 30 different external injuries were found on Rodrigues’ body.
Tay also admitted that he wanted to teach the victim a lesson, for allegedly harassing Tay’s mother and neighbor, Mr. Chua said.
“In the end, (Tay) caused the death of the deceased,” he said.
Mr. Chua objected to the defense’s request for a parole suitability report, saying that the parole is inappropriate as the offense was “so serious and the damage done so severe that clearly the parole option should be excluded from the start. “
He said Lim’s role was limited to restraining the victim, while Tay was the main aggressor.
THE VICTIM HARASSED THEM: DEFENSE
Tay’s attorney, Peter Low, tried unsuccessfully to request a pre-sentencing probation report, saying that his client was “a very young child” frustrated with how “nothing happened” after 59 police reports were made against the alleged harassing behavior of the victim.
The victim had been making frequent unwanted visits to Tay’s family, and the victim’s mother had testified that she told her son not to go to Tay’s home, Low said.
“(Tay) did not expect there to be a resulting death,” the lawyer said. He said it would not have happened “if it weren’t for the particular circumstances of this case” and said his client should be rehabilitated.
The judge responded that in order for parole to be called there must be some remorse and acceptance of the acts, but these “seem to be absent to me.”
Lim’s attorney, Ang Sin Teck, asked for between six and 12 months in jail, saying the prosecution’s characterization of the victim’s behavior as simply causing Lim “some distress” was inaccurate.
“The prosecution, I must say, has played down Shawn’s provocations,” Ang said. “It has been branded as causing Lawrence some distress. That couldn’t be more than the truth.”
He said the victim had made the life of Lim, Tay and their family “hell” due to his “heinous conduct”.
While there were good mitigating factors in the cases of both offenders, the judge noted that neither of them had expressed remorse. He also said parole was not a “realistic sentencing option.”
For willfully causing serious harm, Tay could have been imprisoned for up to 10 years and fined or punished. His stepfather faced the same penalties for instigating him.
