May 18, 2011
Teen sent to Reformative Training Centre
By Khushwant Singh
SENT to the Singapore Boys' Home for two years in May 2010 for theft, Arjun Retnavelu could not stay out of trouble for long.
In October 2010, he punched a fellow inmate, seriously injuring the victim's face. Then between January and March 2011, he went to work for an illegal moneylender and scribbled on walls and splashed paint on seven occasions.
On Wednesday, the 16-year-old was sentenced to the Reformative Training Centre, where he will be detained between 1 1/2 years and three years, depending on the progress of his rehabilitation.
A community court heard that Arjun met Prasantino Thiruselvam and Mohamed Hassan Ismail, both also 16, at 7.30pm on Oct 17 2010, at the void deck of Block 217 Boon Lay Avenue so as to return to the Boys' Home together.
However, a quarrel broke out and Arjun and Prasantino attacked the third teen. Mohamed Hassan was rendered unconscious by the blows and a CT scan at the National University Hospital revealed extensive fractures to the facial bone.
Police were informed but Arjun was not deterred. In March 2011, he hired himself out to a loan shark called 'King' and received $50 for every house he harassed. He was caught at Block 620 Ang Mo Kio Avenue 8 at about 8pm on March 8 after scribbling demands for payment of loans.
He pleaded guilty to one charge of causing grievous hurt and seven counts of harassment on behalf of an unlicensed moneylender. In the same court earlier, Prasantino was also ordered to undergo reformative training.
