Congregant who intervened during St Joseph's Church stabbing was once head of Lee Kuan Yew's security team

One of the congregation members who intervened during the stabbing of a priest at St Joseph's Church is a retired police officer who commanded the Singapore Police Force (SPF) team responsible for the security of the late Lee Kuan Yew.

In addition, he was formerly from the SPF's Special Operations Command.

This was revealed by SATS in a LinkedIn post, which is the current workplace of the member in question, Richard Tan.

Tan was one of two members of the public presented with the Public Spiritedness Award on Nov. 10 in recognition of their intervention to disarm the alleged attacker.

The other awardee, Damien Liew, added, "I needed to do something to make sure that no one else gets hurt, or (that) nothing bad further happens."

According to Tan's LinkedIn profile, he was with the SPF for 38 years.

In response to Mothership's queries, the SPF said Tan is a former police officer who retired from the SPF on May 3, 2018.

Alleged attacker has been charged

The purported attacker, Basnayake Keith Spencer, was charged on Nov. 11 with voluntarily causing grievous hurt with a dangerous weapon.

According to court documents, Spencer had allegedly attacked Catholic priest Father Christopher Lee with a foldable knife.

The purported attack left the priest with a 8cm-long laceration on his tongue, a 3cm cut on his upper lip, and a 4cm cut in the corner of his mouth.

The prosecution applied for Spencer to be remanded for three weeks at Changi Medical Complex for a psychiatric assessment.

He will return to court on Dec. 2.

Should he be convicted of his charge, he may face life imprisonment or jail for up to 15 years.

He could also be subjected to caning and/or a fine.

Top left image via SPF/Facebook, right photo from Laurence Goh/Google Maps