Back in June 2015, chaos erupted at Khoo Teck Puat Hospital as three gunshots rang out from a consultation room — a suspect who’d been escorted to the Accident & Emergency department snatched a cop’s revolver and shot at the officer during an escape attempt. Fortunately, the suspect was tackled and subdued, and the injured officer managed to get treatment at the hospital.
Yesterday, 26-year-old Muhammad Iskandar Sa’at was sentenced to life in prison for orchestrating one of the worst cases of assault against a police officer, The Straits Times reported. Iskandar pleaded guilty on Monday to a single charge of having a firearm under the Arms Offences Act in causing hurt to a public servant.
Demonstrating Singapore’s highly stringent laws against gun crime, Justice Chan Seng Onn agreed with the prosecution that it was an extremely serious offence with high potential harm present and sentenced the accused to 18 strokes of the cane as well.
It was on the evening of June 20, 2015, that Iskandar tried to violently escape from custody. After being charged with vehicle theft in court, he complained of chest pains and was brought to the hospital in Yishun by two police officers. When one of the cops stepped out of the room, Iskandar used an intravenous drip pole to attack Staff Sergeant Muhammad Sadli Razali. The accused then used SSG Sadli’s police T-baton and hit the officer 13 times before snatching his revolver.
While being pinned down by SSG Sadli, Iskandar fired off three shots from close range, the court heard, with two of them penetrating the officer’s left thumb and right foot. Two paramedics came to SSG Sadli’s aid and three uniformed officers subdued Iskandar and removed the gun from his hand.
“It was fortuitous that Staff Sgt Sadli managed to pull the offender onto the ground to avert a potential tragedy. At least five other persons were in the room or near the room entrance when the offender had possession of the revolver, and were thus in harm’s way,” said the prosecution, as quoted by ST.
The prosecution also determined that the incident caused significant public disquiet, as the attack took place during visiting hours — around 7:05pm — in a public hospital with significant human traffic. They pointed out that a number of doctors and nurses had their duties disrupted by the commotion.
Iskandar’s assigned lawyers stated that their client had injected heroin into himself about 27 hours before the incident — the impulsive behavior was caused by his “panic and fluster” as well as acute withdrawal. Nonetheless, they noted that Iskandar deeply regretted his actions and accepted full responsibility, offering no excuse for the transgression, ST reported.
Iskandar’s family were reportedly relieved at hearing the sentence. After all, the man could have received the death sentence for using or attempting to use arms to commit an offence.
EDIT: Article amended to fix a typo
