Man threw Molotov cocktail into debtor’s garden, killed motorcyclist in accident
Wan Ting Koh
·Senior Reporter
Thu, 3 February 2022, 2:29 pm
PHOTO: Getty Images
SINGAPORE — A debtor agreed to work for loansharks to whom he owed money by flinging a homemade Molotov cocktail at another debtor’s landed property, igniting a fire which was eventually put out.
In addition, Chan Suan Guan, 24, allowed loansharks to use his bank accounts for criminal purposes and killed a motorcyclist in a traffic accident.
Chan was sentenced to one year, 11 months’ jail and three strokes of the cane on Thursday (3 February). He was also fined $63,000.
He pleaded guilty to five out of ten charges, including for assisting an unlicensed moneylender, leaving his residence without a reasonable excuse during the 2020 circuit breaker period, and for driving without due care and attention.
The remaining charges were considered for his sentencing. Chan was also disqualified from driving for eight years.
Financial trouble since 2017
Chan, then a RedMart delivery driver, had been in financial trouble since 2017 partly due to his addiction to betting on 4D. He had borrowed more than $30,000 from unlicensed moneylenders.One of them offered him a “job” of harassing other debtors. Chan would be given $1,000 for setting fire to houses, and $300 for throwing eggs at the houses. Chan agreed.
On 25 April 2020, Chan was instructed to set fire to a residence. He bought two glass bottles of thinner from a hardware shop. At about 1.20am, he drove to an area near the targeted residence and parked a distance away.
Chan walked to the residence and placed a note to the debtor under the gate. Chan then set some tissue papers on fire and stuffed them into one of the bottles, thus making a Molotov cocktail. He threw the lit bottle onto the garden at the first floor of the landed house, causing a fire to break out on the grass patch.
Chan took a video of the fire and left. A female occupant saw the fire and alerted her parents and aunt. The aunt eventually put out the fire with water from the garden hose.
Chan was arrested three days later. A search was conducted on his company vehicle and authorities seized a glass bottle of thinner, a black marker, a bag and Chan’s mobile phone.
One loanshark had also offered to offset Chan’s debt if he handed over his bank accounts for the loanshark to use. The loanshark, whose identity was not established, offered to offset $250 weekly per bank account provided until Chan cleared his debt. Chan agreed and handed over two of his bank accounts.
Traffic accident
Separately, while driving a van on 2 January last year, Chan lost control of his vehicle, which skidded on the road and collided into a motorcyclist who was taking shelter at a road shoulder. The impact killed the 39-year-old victim.At about 5.20am, Chan was driving along Pan Island Expressway towards Airport under rainy conditions. He suddenly felt his steering wheel become heavy and his van being pushed to the right. He then filtered to the extreme left lane to avoid a puddle of water but his car skidded and crashed into a road barrier.
A camera on the victim’s motorcycle showed that he was travelling on lane one of the three-lane road, along PIE (Airport) when he rode over an area with ponding as he was approaching the Bedok North Avenue 3 exit. The victim slowed down and filtered to the left before coming to a halt at the road shoulder near the exit.
Three seconds later, Chan’s van spun anti-clockwise from lane one and slammed into the motorcycle. The victim suffered chest and abdominal injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene at 5.40am by a paramedic.
Authorities were unable to determine if there were any mechanical failures in the van that contributed to the accident as its engine could not be started. However, tests to the van’s braking system suggested it was in serviceable condition.
A senior forensic scientist concluded that Chan’s van had been travelling at an average speed of around 66kmh to 95kmh. The speed limit of the road was 90kmh, while the van had a speed limit of 70kmh.
Grass is combustible
Chan’s lawyer Tan Jeh Yaw, said that his client had considered the safety of the house’s occupants as he did not lock the gate or the door. He had also thrown the Molotov cocktail onto the grass patch instead of a door or window, which would have deprived the victims of escape routes.However, Deputy Public Prosecutor Jane Lim rebutted that this was simply because Chan had been instructed to set fire to a landed property instead of an HDB unit.
Tan also claimed that Chan had thrown the Molotov cocktail on a grass verge which “did not have combustible material on it”, prompting District Judge Marvin Bay to observe that grass was combustible.
Tan replied that the the grass would be combustible if it were brown and dry instead of green. He added that there was unlikely to be a big fire if the grass was green.
In response, DJ Bay noted that green grass was only “less likely” to be combustible.
As to the careless driving charge, Tan said the road shoulder was not a place for any vehicle to stop, citing how the authorities had always warned road users that road shoulders were for emergency vehicles. DPP Lim told the court that it could be inferred why the victim had stopped, as it had been underneath an overhead bridge.
