<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR>Jailed over student's death in 2003
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><!-- Author --><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Khushwant Singh
</TD></TR><!-- show image if available --></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->LEONG Soon Kheong stood by and watched while four of his mates beat a student to death five years ago. Now he is going to jail for being in that bloodthirsty group, even though he did not lift a finger himself.
The 32-year-old Malaysian pleaded guilty yesterday to culpable homicide, which carries a maximum jail term of 10 years, for the vicious attack on Wong Dao Jing, 18.
Jailing him for four years and nine months, Justice Chan Seng Onn condemned the 'thuggish and unforgivable behaviour of the group'.
Leong fled to Malaysia but was extradited last December. He is the first of the lot to be dealt with.
A suspected accomplice, Mr Teo Guan Kah, 28, a Singaporean, was hacked to death in Johor Baru in January last year. The other three suspects are still on the run.
They are believed to be members of a group that accosted Dao Jing, a Temasek Polytechnic student, for stealing a backpack belonging to one of them.
Dao Jing returned to the Lucky Chinatown shopping centre at about 8pm on Feb 15, 2003, after two friends called him. When the owner of the bag claimed something was missing, they went to a quiet stairwell to settle the dispute. There, the teenager apologised to three men and asked them what more they wanted as he had already returned the bag. They demanded money for the missing item, without specifying what it was, but Dao Jing had no money.
At this point, Leong appeared with another man. The teen pleaded with the group not to beat him, but Leong said it was difficult to let him go as there were so many of his men watching.
The situation escalated when someone in the group challenged Dao Jing to a fight. They began punching and kicking the student when he said he was scared. Leong tried to join in, but the staircase landing was too narrow for him to get a blow in. Dao Jing's friends knelt before Leong and pleaded with him, but the assault continued until Leong shouted in Hokkien: 'Enough! Let's go.'
Dao Jing died of head injuries in a hospital shortly afterwards.
Emphasising that Leong had not laid a finger on the victim, defence counsel Thangavelu asked the court for a sentence of no more than 31/2 years. Deputy Public Prosecutor Amarjit Singh said, however, that six years were appropriate, as the attack was vicious and led to a death.
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><!-- Author --><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Khushwant Singh
</TD></TR><!-- show image if available --></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->LEONG Soon Kheong stood by and watched while four of his mates beat a student to death five years ago. Now he is going to jail for being in that bloodthirsty group, even though he did not lift a finger himself.
The 32-year-old Malaysian pleaded guilty yesterday to culpable homicide, which carries a maximum jail term of 10 years, for the vicious attack on Wong Dao Jing, 18.
Jailing him for four years and nine months, Justice Chan Seng Onn condemned the 'thuggish and unforgivable behaviour of the group'.
Leong fled to Malaysia but was extradited last December. He is the first of the lot to be dealt with.
A suspected accomplice, Mr Teo Guan Kah, 28, a Singaporean, was hacked to death in Johor Baru in January last year. The other three suspects are still on the run.
They are believed to be members of a group that accosted Dao Jing, a Temasek Polytechnic student, for stealing a backpack belonging to one of them.
Dao Jing returned to the Lucky Chinatown shopping centre at about 8pm on Feb 15, 2003, after two friends called him. When the owner of the bag claimed something was missing, they went to a quiet stairwell to settle the dispute. There, the teenager apologised to three men and asked them what more they wanted as he had already returned the bag. They demanded money for the missing item, without specifying what it was, but Dao Jing had no money.
At this point, Leong appeared with another man. The teen pleaded with the group not to beat him, but Leong said it was difficult to let him go as there were so many of his men watching.
The situation escalated when someone in the group challenged Dao Jing to a fight. They began punching and kicking the student when he said he was scared. Leong tried to join in, but the staircase landing was too narrow for him to get a blow in. Dao Jing's friends knelt before Leong and pleaded with him, but the assault continued until Leong shouted in Hokkien: 'Enough! Let's go.'
Dao Jing died of head injuries in a hospital shortly afterwards.
Emphasising that Leong had not laid a finger on the victim, defence counsel Thangavelu asked the court for a sentence of no more than 31/2 years. Deputy Public Prosecutor Amarjit Singh said, however, that six years were appropriate, as the attack was vicious and led to a death.
but this guy hurts my feelings... hehe - coz I'm representing all of Australia, it's religions, governements, schools, lobbyists, and any other group of Australians that Zack loves to hate. We're all the same...
