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Gang headman gets reformative training
By Shaffiq Alkhatib | Posted: 16 August 2011 1619 hrs
SINGAPORE: A 19-year-old secret society headman who assaulted a student and his own members for wanting to leave the gang was sentenced on Tuesday to reformative training.
Ahmad Zahir Ismail escaped jail and caning for offences including rioting and being part of an unlawful society, but will have to spend between 18 months and three years in a reformative training centre.
This includes a regime of foot drills and counselling to rehabilitate young offenders.
For rioting alone, he could have been jailed up to seven years and caned.
Ahmad pleaded guilty to six charges while four others were taken into consideration during sentencing.
He first joined Sio Kun Tong secret society of the 18 group in 2008 as a fighter.
But he rose through the ranks and, a year later, Ahmad was instructed by a senior member to recruit other youths to form a gang in which he would be the headman.
Ahmad later managed to attract about 20 young people.
One of them, 32-year-old Eswaran Pannirselvam, was earlier sentenced to a year's jail after pleading guilty to offences including rioting and being part of an unlawful society.
The case of another alleged member of Ahmad's group, 17-yeaer-old Al-Shameer Abdul Nassar, is still pending.
The court heard that Ahmad and several members of his group assaulted 17-year-old student Tan Di Wei on March 2.
Mr Tan was waiting for a friend at Serangoon Central's NEX Shopping Centre when a member of Ahmad's group accused the teenager of staring at him.
The group then brought him to a staircase landing and attacked him before escaping.
Mr Tan suffered a bruise on his forehead and a wounded upper lip.
He went to Tan Tock Seng Hospital and was given two days' outpatient medical leave.
Ahmad and his gang struck again two weeks later when they beat up three of their own members who wanted to leave the group.
The boys, who were between 14 and 15 years old, were attacked at a staircase landing at Block 234, Lorong 7 Toa Payoh.
-CNA/wk
