Nightclub waiter jailed, caned over role in fatal assault at St James Power Station
A 28-year-old nightclub waiter who drank on the job and got into an argument with a group of patrons rallied his secret society members to confront the group, a court heard.
The confrontation in March last year resulted in one secret society member stabbing a patron in the forehead and the back of his head in full view of a crowd of people, and causing his death.
At the State Courts on Monday (26 November), waiter Shawalludin Sa’adon was jailed for five-and-a-half years with six strokes of the cane for his role in the assault.
He pleaded guilty to one charge of causing grievous hurt.
Argument over liquor bottle
The court heard that at about 4.30am on 12 March last year, Shawalludin noticed a liquor bottle on the floor of Postbar at St James Power Station.
He told patrons Satheesh Kumar Manogaran, 34, Naveen Lal Pillar, 29, Suniljit Singh, 34, Parveen Kayr Shimbhir Singh, 23 and Aishini Velu, 16, that the bottle should not be left on the floor.
An argument broke out between Shawalludin, Satheesh and Naveen. Suniljit and two of Shawalludin’s colleagues then separated the men. Shawalludin’s supervisors also told him to step out of Postbar to cool things down.
Outside, Shawalludin called Muhammad Hisham Hassan, 28, and told him to rally members of their 369 subgroup of the Sio Kun Tong secret society group to confront Satheesh and Naveen.
Hisham, Muhammad Khalid Kamarudin, 22 and Muhammad Faizal Md Jamal, 23, met Shawalludin at the entrance of Postbar at about 5.30am.
Shawalludin pointed out Satheesh and Naveen to his gang members. The patrons were on their way home and waiting for a private-hire car.
However, as there were uniformed policemen in the area, Hisham told Khalid and Faizal to be patient and wait for an opportunity to attack. Hisham then separated from the group to make some calls.
Victim was stabbed repeatedly
Shortly after, a separate commotion caught the policemen’s attention. At the same time, Satheesh, Naveen and their friends started walking towards a private-hire car.
Shawalludin and his gang members followed the club patrons. Shawalludin called out “Bro, bro” to the group, and started arguing with Satheesh.
Khalid then punched Satheesh, before stabbing him repeatedly with a foldable knife – once in the forehead, twice in the back of the head and twice on his back. Shawalludin and Faizal punched and kicked Satheesh several times.
Even after Satheesh fell to the ground, Khalid, Faizal and Shawalludin continued to punch and kick him. Khalid, Faizal and Shawalludin then attacked Naveen.
As it was closing time for most of the pubs in the area, a large crowd witnessed the assaults on Satheesh and Naveen.
Accused carried on with work
After the attack, Shawalludin washed blood off his hands at a toilet at Postbar before carrying on with his work. Khalid and Faizal fled in a cab and alerted Hisham of the fight. Hisham then left in a separate taxi.
Shortly after, Shawalludin got to know from his colleagues that Satheesh died. The waiter collected his pay for the day, then had breakfast and went back home. Officers arrested him there.
A forensic pathologist certified Satheesh’s cause of death to be from stab wounds. The wounds extended into the brain and the aorta – the largest artery in the body. The victim’s left lung was completely collapsed and the right lung was deflated.
In mitigation, Shawalludin’s lawyer Mato Kotwani told the court his client was not aware that Khalid had brought a knife until the latter started stabbing Satheesh.
Hisham was sentenced to 18 months’ jail in January for harbouring Khalid at his godmother’s flat after the incident. Khalid and Faizal have yet to be dealt with.
For causing grievous hurt, Shawalludin could have been jailed for 10 years, fined and caned.
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