Commanders in SCDF ragging case to face more serious charges
High Court rules SCDF commanders, convicted over 2018 incident where NSman died, will face their original charges
Two commanders from the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF), convicted of reduced charges over a 2018 ragging incident in which a full-time national serviceman died, will face their original, more serious charges, following a decision by the High Court.
Justice See Kee Oon yesterday ruled that former Tuas View Fire Station rota commander Kenneth Chong Chee Boon, 40, and his deputy Nazhan Mohamed Nazi, 42, were guilty of intentionally aiding servicemen to cause grievous hurt to Corporal Kok Yuen Chin by a rash act that endangered human life.
Cpl Kok, who was 22, drowned in a pump well during the ragging on the night of May 13, 2018.
The men of Rota 3 of Tuas View Fire Station had gathered to celebrate Cpl Kok's impending completion of national service. He was pressured to enter the 12m-deep pump well at the fire station as part of a ragging activity known as "kolam", despite not being able to swim.
Cpl Kok was found in the well more than half an hour later, and taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead.
Aside from Chong and Nazhan, three other SCDF regulars who were their subordinates have been convicted and sentenced in relation to Cpl Kok's death.
Muhammad Nur Fatwa Mahmood, who admitted to the fatal push, was jailed for a year and four weeks, while Mohamed Farid Mohd Saleh was jailed for 13 months for instigating him.
Adighazali Suhaimi was jailed for a month for deleting footage of the incident from his mobile phone.
Last September, Chong and Nazhan were each sentenced to 10 weeks' jail after they were convicted of reduced charges of negligence instead of a rash act.
Chong served his sentence, while Nazhan was allowed bail pending his appeal.
But in his oral remarks yesterday, Justice See said the senior district judge had erred in finding that the prosecution had failed to prove the more serious charges against the two accused individuals, and that the original charges had been proved beyond reasonable doubt.
"It was not disputed by either (of the accused) that they owed a duty of care to Cpl Kok," he said.
"The inescapable inference was that they had consciously chosen not to stop the 'kolam', thus giving a clear sanction for the activity to continue, with knowledge of the risks associated."
He said choosing to ignore the risks or to trivialise the possible dangers constituted a rash act.
"Their conscious and deliberate inaction was a clear sanction for the servicemen to carry on with the activity."
He allowed the prosecution's appeals and convicted both the accused of the original charges.
He will hear submissions on sentencing and mitigation pleas at a later date.
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