Jul 12, 2011
Man to plead guilty to culpable homicide of student
By Selina Lum
ONE of five men allegedly involved in the fatal assault of a polytechnic student in Chinatown seven years ago on Tuesday indicated in court that he would plead guilty to a charge of culpable homicide.
Singaporean Toh Chun Siong, 27, is said to have been on the run in Malaysia after the Feb 15, 2003 attack on 18-year-old Wong Dao Jing at the staircase landing of Lucky Chinatown Shopping Centre.
Toh surrendered to Singapore immigration authorities in August last year. He now faces a charge of killing the teenager by punching and kicking the teenager on the head, face and stomach after he had fallen to the ground.
He is accused of having done this while in an unlawful assembly with four other men - Leong Soon Kheong, Sean Leong Hung Chu, Teo Guan Kah and Lim Liang Long Larry - with the aim of causing hurt to the teenager.
Toh's plea is expected to be taken in August in the High Court. He faces a maximum of 10 years in prison, and a possible fine or caning.
Background:
It was previously reported that the five assailants fled Singapore after the killing and were put on the police's wanted list.
The first to surface was 29-year-old Singaporean Teo Guan Kah. In January 2007, he was found brutally hacked to death by a gang of parang-wielding masked men in Johor Baru.
In September 2008, another accomplice. Malaysian Leong Soon Kheong, 32, was was jailed for four years and nine months after he pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of culpable homicide.
In February 2009, his jail term was increased to seven years by the Court of Appeal.
The two other suspects are still on the run.
