Duo jailed over Molotov cocktail attack on St James club
Unhappy that bouncers at a nightclub at St James Power Station had escorted him out of the premises, a partygoer hatched a plot to exact revenge by throwing Molotov cocktails at the venue.
Bryan Ho Chang Rong, 28, roped in four friends with the intention of hurling four Molotov cocktails at Club Hollywood on 13 September 2016.
Each of the incendiary devices shattered on impact and burst into a ball of flames. But the only damage they caused was to a table, which cost $1,100 to replace.
At the State Courts on Tuesday (12 March), two of the five men were jailed for their crimes.
Daryl Tay Kai Long, 28, was jailed for five-and-a-half years, having earlier pleaded guilty to mischief by fire and drug offences. His accomplice Toh Wei Yi, 29, was jailed for 20 months, having earlier pleaded guilty to mischief by fire.
Bryan Ho and another accomplice, his younger brother Cephas Ho Jin An, 25, will be dealt with at a later date.
The fifth accomplice, Eugene Lim Huang Sheng, died in July 2017. The charge against him has been abated.
On 12 September 2016, Bryan went to the club with several friends. While there, Bryan’s group had a dispute with another group and bouncers intervened and escorted his group out.
A fight then broke out between his group and the bouncers, before they left.
Later that day, Bryan and the four accomplices, who weren’t at the club, met up for supper. He suggested a revenge attack on the bouncers involving Molotov cocktails and they agreed to the plan.
The group drove around in a car belonging to Tay’s mother to pick up socks, gloves, petrol and empty beer bottles.
Shortly after midnight the next day, the quintet conducted surveillance of the St James area and found a spot to park the getaway car, on the opposite side of the road outside the area. They then prepared their Molotov cocktails.
At around 2.15am, the group carried out the plan. Toh stayed in the car with Tay, while Bryan, Cephas and Lim alighted with the Molotov cocktails.
The trio approached the club and hid behind some parked cars.
But they realised that their intended target was quite a distance away from their hiding spot. So the trio decided to throw the Molotov cocktails at another club nearby called Postbar instead.
Lim hurled the first Molotov cocktail, followed by Cephas who threw two and then Bryan who hurled another.
The four Molotov cocktails landed on the walkway in front of Postbar. A club manager and a cashier managed to move away and no one was injured. The bouncers at the club later put out the fires using extinguishers.
The culprits ran to the getaway car and fled.
The maximum punishment for committing mischief by fire is up to seven years’ jail along with a fine.
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