31-year-old man charged with culpable homicide changes plea

[E.Honda]

31-year-old man charged with culpable homicide changes plea
By Teo Xuanwei | Posted: 26 November 2010 1932 hrs
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SINGAPORE: The last of a group of eight men charged with causing the death of an illegal gambling den operator changed his mind at the last minute about pleading guilty, on Friday.

Mohamad Najiman Abdull Aziz, 31, had initially been charged with the murder of Mr Seah Boon Lye, 26, in a gang-related slashing and stabbing at Geylang Lorong 10 on February 23, 2008.

His seven accomplices had pleaded guilty to the offence in February this year and received between 12 and 20 years' imprisonment, as well as 10 to 18 strokes of the cane.

Mohamad Najiman, whose charge got reduced to culpable homicide subsequently, was expected to plead guilty on Friday.

However, after he was told he could face life imprisonment or be jailed up to 20 years, receive a fine or be caned, Mohamad Najiman told the High Court he would only plead guilty to a less severe charge of the manslaughter offence instead.

The lesser charge - which carries up to 10 years' imprisonment, or a fine, or caning, or any combination of these penalties - deals with offences where the assailant does not have the intention to cause death.

His case will now be fixed for a pre-trial conference.

-CNA/ac