Six years' jail for man who slashed and killed his abusive dad

Murder charge reduced due to his chronic adjustment disorder, depressive disorder

- Selina Lum

A teenager slashed his abusive fa- 1 ther twice in their Yishun flat after the 47-year-old man taunted him by calling him "ah gua" (Hokkien for transvestite) and challenging him to "chop someone with a knife".

When his father, Mr Eddie Seah, left the fifth-floor flat after the initial confrontation, Sylesnar Seah Jie Kai, a 19-year-old student at the time, followed him, armed with two knives.

Seah believed that if he did not kill his father, the latter would kill him the following day, the High Court was told on Sept 30.

At the lift lobby, he repeatedly slashed his father's head and neck with the knives, and they continued struggling at the staircase landing between the fourth and fifth floors.

After the teenager dropped one of the knives, his father picked it up and approached a fourth-floor unit for help before he collapsed.

Seah then lay down near his father and waited for the police and paramedics to arrive. Mr Eddie Seah was pronounced dead at the scene.

On Sept 30, Seah, who is now 21 years old, was sentenced to six years' jail after he pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of culpable homicide for killing his father on Oct 10, 2022.

He had initially been charged with murder, but the charge was reduced after he was diagnosed to be suffering from chronic adjustment disorder with depressed mood and an "other specified depressive disorder".

The prosecution sought a sentence of between seven and 12 years' jail "to reflect the accused's intentional violence towards his father", while the defence asked for five years' jail.

In sentencing, Justice Dedar Singh Gill took into account the accused's age, the medical evidence on his mental condition and his guilty plea.