Man involved in Mei Ling Street killing committed violent crimes in the past
Posted: 26 May 2010 1828 hrs
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49-year-old Leow Kok Meng used a knife to attack 8-year-old Karunagaran Jaganathan at Mei Ling Road in 2008 </td> </tr> <tr> <td></td> <td class="update"></td> </tr> <tr> <td></td> <td>
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SINGAPORE: An unemployed man who committed manslaughter at Mei Ling Street in the Queenstown area in 2008 was involved in other violent crimes in the past. In the latest case, 49-year-old Leow Kok Meng used a knife to attack 48-year-old Karunagaran Jaganathan on 29 August that year.
Karunagaran had multiple injuries and was found dead in a pool of blood between Blocks 154 and 157. Leow pleaded guilty to culpable homicide not amounting to murder in March this year.
He also admitted he'd used the knife to hurt 46-year-old Balan Krishnan on the same day he killed Karunagaran. Deputy Public Prosecutor Leong Wing Tuck told Justice Kan Ting Chiu that Leow had five previous convictions between 1980 and 1998.
They included armed robbery and voluntarily causing grievous hurt with a dangerous weapon. The court heard that for these convictions, Leow was sentenced to more than three years jail and 13 strokes of the cane.
Citing an Institute of Mental Health report, DPP Leong said Leow also has a history of substance-abuse and had used marijuana, opium and sleeping tablets. He'd been to Drug Rehabilitation Centres four times for periods ranging between 18 and 33 months.
The lawyer said Leow had "recurrent problems connected with drinking which has increased over the years." Prior to his latest arrest, Leow used to consume an average of "two or three large bottles of beer per day supplemented with whisky about twice per week."
The IMH report also listed him as having anti-social personality disorder. DPP Leong said Leow "has been assessed to pose a real and serious danger to the public until his unstable mental condition is effectively resolved by psychiatric treatment and rehabilitation." The lawyer said a life sentence in Leow's latest case is "justified" as it will "pave the way for treating" his condition.
It will also "provide the general public with the needed protection during the indeterminate period required for his treatment." However, in mitigation Leow's lawyer, Jennifer Lim urged the judge not to impose the life sentence. She said Leow had been crime-free since 1998 and this "should not be ignored."
Leow will be sentenced at a later date. - CNA/fa
