Teenager who killed schoolmate with axe loses appeal against 16 years' jail

Chief Justice says student showed chilling degree of premeditation in planning attack

- Selina Lum Senior Law Correspondent

The Court of Appeal on Oct 23 upheld the sentence of 16 years' jail that was handed down to a teenager who killed his schoolmate at River Valley High School with an axe in 2021.

Singapore's highest court dismissed the teen's appeal for a jail term of between eight and 10 years.

Delivering the court's decision, Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon said the teen "exhibited a chilling degree of premeditation and a cold and calculated approach" in planning and preparing for the killing.

The assailant cannot be named for legal reasons as he committed the crime when he was 16 years old.

Suffering from depression, he had hatched a plan to slash people in the school, so that the police would shoot him dead. He bought several weapons, including a combat axe, between March and April in 2021.

On July 19 that year, he left his classroom and waited in the toilet, armed with the axe. He repeatedly slashed Ethan Hun, 13, who had entered the toilet. The two schoolboys did not know each other.

Chief Justice Menon noted that from as early as five months before the attack, the teen had researched on the internet for a suitable weapon and picked a machete or axe because it would be suitable for an inexperienced user.

The teen then arranged to have the weapons sharpened professionally, and also examined the floor plan of the school.