Why so vicious? Victim who died had 95 injuries

It was anything but a fair fight - six young men against a 52-year-old man.

They had beer bottles. He had what looked like a bicycle chain.

The scuffle lasted mere minutes. When it ended, the man was barely alive and the youths had fled.

He had about 95 injuries, including a fractured skull and spine, and internal injuries all over his body.

Mr Goh Ho Leong, who was unemployed, died in hospital two days later, on March 10, 2011.

In the High Court on Friday, the six - Anandraj Manimaran, 21, twins Segu Jamaldeen Nafil Mohamed and Muhizin Khan, 20, S. Karthikesu, 21, Abdul Samad Mohamed Kasim, 25, and Suriya Thankamany, 20 - pleaded guilty to causing Mr Goh's death.

Why was the attack so vicious?

The evening of March 8 had started innocently enough at Tiong Bahru Park, where the six accused and four other friends had met to chat and to drink alcohol.

But trouble started at about 8.30pm when another group sitting nearby were unhappy with the youths and went over to confront them.

Half an hour later, Segu, Abdul Samad and a third friend went to meet the other group members at a nearby public toilet to "resolve" their conflict.

Inside the toilet, Segu pushed open a cubicle door and found Mr Goh inside.

Enraged by the intrusion, Mr Goh scolded Segu and they got into an argument.

Mr Goh told Segu to wait for him in the toilet and left.

Segu and his friend, Mr Mohamad Ayub Jailabdeen, waited outside the washroom.

When Mr Goh returned, accompanied by an unknown man, he was holding what looked like a bicycle chain.

Some in the group said they heard him telling Segu "one to one", slang for fighting individually.

A scuffle then started, with others in the group, who were nearby, joining in.

Mr Goh hit Anandraj and another man, Mr Mansur Alikhan, with the chain. Mr Mansur ran away after he got hurt. The six who pleaded guilty all punched and kicked Mr Goh till he fell to the ground.

Muhizin and Suriya hit him on the head and face with glass bottles.

They continued to punch and kick him for a few minutes until joggers who were passing by shouted at them.

The group fled and the joggers called for an ambulance.

Mr Goh was taken to the Singapore General Hospital where he died on March 10.

He had about 95 injuries, including a skull fracture, multiple fractures all over his face, ribs and spine.

In the autopsy report, the pathologist said the depressed skull fracture would have been potentially fatal on its own. Anandraj, Segu, Muhizin, Karthikesu and Abdul Samad were arrested the day after the attack.

Suriya, who went on the run, was placed on the "wanted" list and surrendered himself on March 15.

The others who were at the park that night - Mr Mohamad Ayub, Mr Mansur, Mr Mohamed Fazuluddin Azeedali and Ms S. Durga - were also taken in.

Ms Durga was only 16 at the time.

The 10 were initially charged in court with murder, but it was later reduced to culpable homicide not amounting to murder for the six who pleaded guilty on Friday.

The New Paper understands that the rest were each granted a discharge not amounting to an acquittal.

Packed gallery

During the hearing on Friday, the public gallery was packed with family and friends of the six men.

Security officers armed with rifles were seen checking the dock and the courtroom before the accused were brought in just after 11am by at least 14 officers, who remained during the hearing.

Anandraj could be seen looking around for his relatives. When he saw them, he smiled and tried to mouth messages to them through the glass.

Next to him was Muhizin, who sometimes whispered to Anandraj.

Karthikesu, Abdul Samad and the bespectacled Suriya kept their heads bowed throughout most of the proceedings, which were translated for them by a Tamil interpreter.

At the end of the hearing, their lawyers asked that their clients be given time to speak to their families and some of the women were seen weeping.

They will be sentenced on Oct 14.

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