2 brothers jailed for Molotov cocktail attack at St James Power Station
SINGAPORE — Two brothers who threw Molotov cocktails in a revenge attack on bouncers at the St James Power Station nightlife complex were jailed on Monday (17 June).
Bryan Ho Chang Rong, 29, and Cephas Ho Jin An, 26, had joined three friends to hurl four such explosives at Postbar on 13 September 2016.
Both had pleaded guilty to one count each of committing mischief by fire. Cephas also admitting to possessing and consuming cannabis.
For their offences, Bryan was jailed two years and four months, while Cephas received a sentence of two years and nine months.
Facts of the case
On 12 September 2016, Bryan visited Club Hollywood at the St James Power Station with several friends. While there, his group became involved in a dispute with another group.
Bryan’s group was escorted out after bouncers intervened in the spat. This led to a fight breaking out between Bryan’s group and the bouncers.
Later that night, Bryan and the four co-accused met for supper. He suggested a revenge attack on the bouncers involving the use of Molotov cocktails.
The group then picked up socks, gloves, petrol and empty beer bottles before arriving at St James Power Station after midnight. After surveying the area and finding a parking spot for their getaway car, they then began filling the beer bottles with petrol.
At around 2.15am, the group put its plan in action. Toh stayed in the car with Tay, while Bryan, Cephas and Lim alighted with the Molotov cocktails. The trio approached the club and then moved to hide behind some parked cars.
They then realised that their intended target was too far away from their hiding spot. Instead, they decided to hurl the Molotov cocktails at Postbar, which was closer to where they were.
Lim hurled the first Molotov cocktail, followed by Cephas and Bryan. The four Molotov cocktails landed on the walkway in front of Postbar. The culprits then ran to the getaway car and fled.
A club manager and a cashier managed to dodge the explosives and no one was injured. The bouncers at the club put out the fires using fire extinguishers.
The attack led to a total of $1,100 in damages.
The three other men involved in the attack had been dealt with earlier. Daryl Tay Kai Long, 28, was jailed for five-and-a-half years after admitting to mischief by fire and drug offences, while Toh Wei Yi, 29, was jailed for 20 months on mischief by fire offences.
The fifth accomplice, Eugene Lim Huang Sheng, died in July 2017. The charge against him has been abated.
For mischief by fire, each brother could have been jailed up to seven years’ and fined.
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