The seventh and last of the accused in the fatal fight that took place at Orchard Towers in July 2019 has been sentenced to life imprisonment and 12 strokes of the cane.

Tan Sen Yang, 32, was found guilty of the murder of Satheesh Noel Gobidass.

The prosecution did not seek the death penalty for him, CNA reported.

He was the only one left with a murder charge after the other six accused — Natalie Siow, Ang Da Yuan, Joel Tan, Loo Boon Chong, Tan Hong Sheng and Chan Jia Xing — had their murder charges reduced.

Tan contested his murder charge and was represented by three lawyers — Nichol Yeo, Teo Choo Kee and Subir Singh Grewal.

Prosecution: Tan's actions were not an accident

According to court documents seen by Mothership, the prosecution highlighted that Tan's actions were neither accidental nor misintended.

Tan had been in possession of a karambit knife the entire time he was at Orchard Towers.

During the fight, he repeatedly punched at the victim while holding the knife, and admitted to doing so in the course of his statements given during the investigation.

The prosecution also cited a psychiatric assessment of Tan which said that while he has alcohol use disorder, and a history of adjustment disorder with depressed mood, he was not of unsound mind at the time of the offence.

The prosecution called for life imprisonment and at least 15 strokes of the cane.

Defence: Was it Tan who inflicted the fatal wound on the accused?

Meanwhile, Tan's defence lawyers attempted to show that there was reasonable doubt as to whether he inflicted the fatal wound, The Straits Times reported.

They argued that another of the accused, Chan, had been observed in CCTV footage to be holding a black object in his hand.

In addition, the CCTV footage only captured Tan punching the victim three times, while eight wounds were found on his body.

The defence also said that Tan should be convicted of culpable homicide due to his mental conditions which meant he had diminished responsibility for his actions.

One of his lawyers, Teo, called for a sentence of life imprisonment and at least 12 strokes of the cane.

Judge rejects defence's arguments

The judge, Aedit Abdullah, ruled that the prosecution had proved its case beyond reasonable doubt.

Abdullah also acknowledged that the defence had put up a "spirited defence" although he rejected each of their arguments in turn.

On the point of the Chan holding a black object as observed from CCTV footage, he noted that this was very likely to be a e-cigarette as Chan had been seen bringing it to his mouth.

With regard to the matter of eight wounds being found on Satheesh while he was only shown to have been punched three times, the judge noted that the fight was a "dynamic situation" and that more than one cut could have been inflicted by a blow.

Abdullah also rejected the defence's argument that Tan had diminished responsibility due to his mental conditions.

The judge highlighted that Tan was aware of his actions at the time of the offence, given that he fled the scene afterwards.

What happened on the day of the murder?

On Jul. 2, 2019, at about 5:25am, Tan was visiting the Naughty Girl Club at Orchard Towers with his friends.

He was in possession of a karambit knife throughout the entire time he was at Orchard Towers.

At about 6:20am, while they were leaving the club, they got into a dispute with another group of people who were entering the club, including a man by the name of Muhammad Fairus.

Security officers from the club intervened.

One of the officers and Fairus were slashed by the knife that Tan was holding.

Security officers eventually separated the two groups, and Tan and his friends took the lift down to the ground floor of Orchard Towers.

While Tan's group was making their way towards the exit, Satheesh, who was an acquaintance of Fairus, came down the escalator to the ground floor alone and confronted them.

The confrontation escalated into a fight with Tan punching the victim three times in the face while still holding onto the karambit knife.

Some of Tan's friends also punched and kicked Satheesh.

Tan's group then left Orchard Towers.

Later in the day, Tan learned that Satheesh had died and surrendered himself to the police on the advice of his friend.

What happened to the other six accused?

The sentences of the other convicted co-accused in the incident are:

• Tan Hong Sheng: Fours years and nine months' imprisonment and 12 strokes of the cane.
• Ang Da Yuan: Eight months’ imprisonment and six strokes of the cane.
• Natalie Siow Yu Zhen: Five months' imprisonment.
• Joel Tan Yun Sheng: Four weeks' imprisonment.
• Loo Boon Chong: Five months' imprisonment.

Meanwhile, Chan Jia Xing was given a discharge not amounting to an acquittal, and let off with a conditional warning.

Left photo via, right photo via Google Streetview