Man jailed over slashing incident at pub

He spotted an acquaintance whom he had previously argued with at a club and things got out of hand.

That night, Sham Raaj Elansharan (picture), 21, ended up slashing a man's bicep, severing his artery, vein and nerve.

Yesterday Sham pleaded guilty to one charge of voluntarily causing hurt using a deadly weapon and another for using abusive words on a public servant.

He was jailed for seven months and fined $4,000.

Another charge of punching the acquaintance, Mr Mohamed Nizar Bathushaa Mohamed Hanifah, 21, was taken into consideration for sentencing.

The court heard that Sham, an air-con technician at the time, had arrived at the nightclub called Rumours at St James Power Station at Sentosa Gateway with three friends at around 11pm on Jan 9.

Sham Raaj Elansharan.

After drinking throughout the night, he spotted Mr Mohamed Nizar, with whom he had had a dispute a few years back, and made some gestures towards him.

Mr Mohamed Nizar and three other friends had also consumed alcohol at a pub before they arrived at Rumours to continue drinking.

One of Mr Mohamed Nizar's friends, Mr Pilli Sai Divyesh, 21, stepped outside the club for a smoke with Sham and his group.

When Mr Pilli's friends saw this, they became concerned and followed them out of the club. One carried a bottle of whisky, intending to drink it later, court documents stated.

Sham's friend, Mr Thevaraj Pillai Rajendran, 22, grew alarmed when he saw the bottle. He thought they wanted to use it as a weapon and he started shouting vulgarities in Tamil.

When Mr Mohamed Nizar tried to resolve the misunderstanding, a scuffle broke out and punches were thrown.

Sham then took a foldable knife with a 5cm-blade from Mr Thevaraj and swung it around shouting, "Who want, who want".

He punched Mr Muthukumaran Balasubramaniam, 23, while holding the knife and as a result, slashed his arm and caused him to bleed profusely.

Sham disposed of the knife in a nearby drain and left in a taxi with his friends.

Mr Muthukumaran was taken to Singapore General Hospital where he was hospitalised for five days and given three weeks' medical leave.

NERVE INJURY

Medical reports said he suffered a cut to his right bicep that severed an artery, vein and nerve.

A report also said that his nerve injury might be long-lasting and he might experience numbness.

Sham was arrested two days later, at Block 707, Yishun Avenue 5.

He was charged with causing hurt on Jan 20 and released on court bail.

In another incident on May 21 at around 1am, while Sham was on court bail, a policeman spotted him and three others playing carrom loudly at the void deck of Block 707, Yishun Avenue 5.

The officer told them to keep their volume down and asked for their particulars.

It was found that Sham was wanted for failing to report to the Central Manpower Base for his Individual Physical Proficiency Test.

When the officer tried to interview Sham, he became uncooperative and violent and shouted vulgarities in Hokkien at the policeman when he was told to calm down.

Sham was arrested for using abusive language against a public servant in the execution of his duty.

In his mitigation, Sham's lawyer Jason Peter Dendroff told the court that his client had gone to the club that night to celebrate with friends.

He said the offences was not premeditated and arose due to a misunderstanding.

Sham had intended to scare the opposing group with the knife, but had accidentally cut Mr Muthukumaran.

During sentencing, District Judge Adam Nakhoda highlighted Sham's previous antecedents involving violence of similar nature.

He said: "Unfortunately you haven't learnt your lesson.''