A Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) officer has been charged following the death of full-time National Serviceman Dave Lee earlier this year.

Lee collapsed from heat stroke after completing an 8km fast march on April 18, 2018.

He was hospitalised at Changi General Hospital during which his condition deteriorated. Lee passed away on April 30 some two weeks later from multiple organ injury, as a result of the heat stroke.

An independent Committee of Inquiry (COI) was subsequently convened by the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF).

In August, it shared preliminary findings that established that there were lapses in training safety and inadequate casualty management, which could have contributed to the death of Lee.

Captain charged

Tan Baoshu, a 30-year-old captain was the Officer Commanding of Support Company, 1st Guards Battalion at the time when Lee's heat stroke occurred.

Tan was also the supervising officer of the fast march conducted on the morning of April 18.

Tan is being charged with causing the death of Lee after he failed to evacuate the fallen soldier in a timely fashion and "disallowing the administration of the necessary treatment to CFC Lee, thereby causing the death of CFC Lee from heat stroke".

Tan is currently out on a S$10,000 bail.

He will return to court on Nov. 28. He has yet to plead guilty or claim trial.

If found guilty, Tan faces a maximum jail term of five years and/ or a fine.

COI found inadequate casualty management

Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen shared in Parliament on Aug. 6 preliminary findings from the COI that revealed that Lee’s collapse on April 18 was initially incorrectly assessed to be physical exhaustion.

The treatment administered was also inadequate.

It was also found that there was a "significant gap between the onset of symptoms and [Lee’s] arrival at the medical centre".

The COI noted it was unable to determine the exact cause of the heatstroke, but noted that contributory causes of Lee’s heatstroke include, "accumulated fatigue, insufficient rest, Lee’s less than optimal state of health and his potential use of medication".

The COI assessed the likely reasons for Lee succumbing to heat stroke were "inadequate on-site casualty management and delayed evacuation".

Ng had also said in Parliament in August that the Ministry of Defence would "wait for the Attorney-General’s Chambers’ decision whether to prosecute any person in the criminal courts. If no criminal charges are filed, Mindef will prosecute persons responsible for lapses in this incident in our military court".

Commanders involved in the incident have been removed from command.