Man, 21, kills father in Yishun with knife following years of abuse

A 19-year-old man who grew up with an abusive father ended up slashing and murdering him in October 2022.

Seah Jie Kai Sylesnar, now 21, was sentenced to six years' jail for a reduced charge of culpable homicide not amounting to murder.

Grew up with an abusive father

Court documents stated that Seah's father had a strained relationship with his wife and children as he was verbally abusive towards them, especially when he was drunk.

He was also physically abusive to his three children when they were younger, caning them, breaking plastic balls on their heads and throwing books at them, the defence said.

Seah was the youngest, and his father often told him to "be a man, not a girl", CNA reported.

He was not allowed to cry during punishment and trained himself not to show any emotions.

He also avoided being at home, where he felt unsafe.

Was worried that his father would kill him if he did not do so first

In October 2022, after an argument, Seah's father called him a slur for a transvestite and asked if he dared to "chop someone with a knife".

Angry and humiliated, Seah armed himself with a kitchen knife and slashed his father twice in the living room.

His father sustained a laceration to his right chest, but did not retaliate.

Seah returned the knife to the kitchen while his father called his wife in the living room, before leaving the flat.

Seah grew worried that if he did not kill his father, his father would "kill him the next day".

He then retrieved two knives from the kitchen, and went to look for his father.

When Seah found him near a lift, he repeatedly slashed his head and neck with the knives, as he intended to decapitate the older man.

His father tried to block some of the blows with his hands, and put up a struggle, pushing Seah towards the staircase.

The pair tussled between the two floors, before the older man walked towards the fourth floor and collapsed at the neighbour's flat. Seah shouted for someone to call the police.

An autopsy found at 24 wounds on the victim's body. He was certified to have died from bleeding from the neck.

Final conversation before death

According to his defence lawyers, Mr Sunil Sudheesan and Ms Joyce Khoo from Quahe Woo & Palmer, Seah felt "overwhelmed" after his father collapsed, CNA reported.

"I really hated you for a while," Seah told his father.

"I'm sorry. I love you. Please forgive me," his father replied.

Seah then asked his father to kill him, but when his father did not move, Seah placed a knife on his own neck, the defence said.

His father told him "don't do it, it isn't worth it".

Suffered from depressive disorder and contemplated suicide

An IMH report concluded that Seah was suffering from chronic adjustment disorder with depressed mood and another specified depressive disorder at the time of the offence.

This impaired his capacity to know the wrongfulness of his actions and control them.

Seah was also said to have contemplated suicide multiple times in 2015, but stopped himself when he thought of how upset his mother would be.

His mother was diagnosed with cancer in November 2021, and Seah contemplated suicide again, the defence said.

"A tragic case": Judge

The prosecution sought seven to 12 years' jail for Seah, while the defence asked for not more than five years, urging the court "not to give up on this young man who now must live with the scars of his actions", CNA reported.

Deputy Public Prosecutors Derek Ee and Jordy Kay said one cannot take justice into his own hands, even if they find themselves in "unfortunate situations" such as Seah's.

"The sentence has to befit the gravity of the offence and take into account the accused’s senseless violence which led to the loss of a life," they said.

"While the accused was labouring under a depressive disorder at the material time, it was not a licence to kill," they added, elaborating that Seah's mental condition was not as severe as major depressive disorder.

Seah chose to act on his anger and misplaced belief that his father would kill him the following day.

"This fear stemmed from a real perception that his father was a dangerous man, and the need to defend himself given his father’s unfazed reaction to the initial attack," the prosecution said.

The prosecution noted that after Seah's first attack, his father did not retaliate and left the house, to avoid further confrontation.

Despite this, Seah resolved to kill him and pursued him.

Sentence

In sentencing, Justice Dedar Singh Gill said he took into account Seah's age, the medical evidence on his mental condition, and his remorse which has resulted in a timely plea of guilt, CNA reported.

He noted that Seah is unlikely to reoffend in a similar way and that his long-term prognosis is good adding that it was a "very tragic case".

The judge allowed Seah a few moments with his family, before he was taken away.

Culpable homicide not amounting to murder can either draw a penalty of life imprisonment and caning, or jail for up to 20, a fine, or caning.

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