SAF serviceman admits to causing death of Aloysius Pang, fined S$8,000
Actor Aloysius Pang died four days after sustaining serious injuries during military training in New Zealand. (File photo: Facebook/Aloysius Pang)
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SINGAPORE: A Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) serviceman on Tuesday (Nov 19) was fined and demoted after he admitted to causing
the death of national serviceman Aloysius Pang.
Third Sergeant (National Service) Hubert Wah Yun Teng, 31, pleaded guilty to one charge of causing death by a negligent act under the Penal Code, and another charge of a negligent act of endangering life under the SAF Act.
He was fined S$5,000 for the charge of causing death by a negligent act and fined another S$3,000 for a negligent act of endangering life. His rank will be demoted to Corporal.
The military court heard that 3SG (NS) Wah, an operationally-ready detachment commander, failed to ensure that Pang was not in the travel path of the flick rammer of the Singapore Self-Propelled Howitzer, resulting in the flick rammer pinning Pang against the centre slew ring of the Howitzer, thereby causing his death.
For the other charge, the court heard that 3SG (NS) Wah failed to activate the emergency stop button that would have stopped the flick rammer.
READ: Aloysius Pang death: 2 SAF servicemen charged in military court
A person convicted for causing death by a negligent act faces up to two years' jail and/or a fine.
In 3SG (NS) Wah’s mitigation, his defence lawyer Adrian Wee said Pang’s next-of-kin had asked for the court to be lenient on the accused.
For the charge of causing death, the prosecution said it did not object to only a fine being imposed, adding that if a fine was to be imposed, it should be the maximum S$5,000.
Meanwhile, Military Expert 2 Ivan Teo Gee Siang, 35, also pleaded guilty to two charges of a negligent act of endangering life and another charge of disobedience of general orders, all under the SAF Act.
ME2 Teo, a regular armament technician, was fined a total of S$7,000 for the three charges.
For the first two charges, ME2 Teo failed to alert 3SG (NS) Wah that Pang was in the travel path of the flick rammer, and failed to activate the emergency stop button that would have halted it, the court heard.
For his third charge, ME2 Teo proceeded to loosen the outer cover of a box in the Howitzer when its barrel was not in a parked position and its master switch was not switched off, despite a maintenance manual indicating that they should be.
3SG (NS) Wah and ME2 Teo had been charged on Jul 31 but their charges were amended.
On Tuesday, the court heard that 3SG (NS) Wah will pay his fine in full on Nov 22, while ME2 Teo will pay S$3,000 on Tuesday and the remainder in monthly instalments of S$1,000, to be deducted from his salary.
The three-member tribunal, led by General Court Martial president Lieutenant-Colonel (NS) Shawn Ho – a serving State Court judge – said that based on the facts and circumstances as well as case precedents, the court agreed with the prosecution’s sentencing position for both servicemen.
Mitigating factors include the two servicemen’s guilty pleas, as well as ME2 Teo's clean service record and 3SG (NS) Wah's “almost unblemished” service record, LTC (NS) Ho said.
“Given that 3SG (NS) Hubert Wah was the junior commander, the fact that he activated the switch for the flick rammer, and one of the charges he faced was Section 304A(b) of the Penal Code, we are of the view that 3SG (NS) Hubert Wah’s culpability is higher than ME2 Ivan Teo,” he said in his oral grounds of decision.
“Accordingly, this fact is reflected in their respective sentences.”
PANG WAS LIFTED OFF THE GROUND
The court also heard a fresh account of what happened during the incident that led to Pang's death.
On Jan 19, 3SG (NS) Wah was operating the Howitzer as part of a training exercise in New Zealand when it encountered an error in its firing angle and required maintenance, court documents showed.
3SG (NS) Wah reported the error and a maintenance crew was activated to rectify the error. Pang, who was trained in repairing Howitzers, was instructed to provide maintenance support.
Pang arrived with ME2 Teo and conducted an inspection of the Howitzer, which had its barrel raised at the time.
The pair then left the Howitzer to discuss a repair plan together with another armament technician.
It was decided the technicians would attempt to correct the error by replacing the interface printed circuit board inside the motor drive control unit - ammunition handling system box.
After the discussion, ME2 Teo entered the Howitzer, informed 3SG (NS) Wah of the plan and told him to put the barrel to its “standby” position. He then loosened the outer casing of the system box to remove the circuit board.
This took place when the barrel was still at the “high” angle position and the master switch powering the Howitzer was switched on.
