5 years' detention for teen with gaming addiction who killed dad

For months, a 14-year-old boy who had an Internet gaming addiction harboured thoughts of killing his father for restricting his access to computer games.

One morning in December 2020, feeling aggrieved that his father had falsely accused him of throwing away a scoop used for laundry detergent, the boy stabbed the 49-year-old in the neck at their Loyang condominium.

Yesterday, the lanky, bespectacled boy, who turns 16 next month, pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of culpable homicide in the High Court. He had been initially charged with murder.

He was sentenced to five years' detention - the first person here to be sentenced under a provision in the Children and Young Persons Act that allows the court to impose detention for murder, culpable homicide, attempted murder or causing grievous hurt.

Prosecutors had sought five to seven years' detention, while the defence asked for three to five years.

The boy, who has been remanded at the Singapore Boys' Home since his arrest, will likely continue to be detained there as he studies for his O levels this year.

Should he go on to take his A levels or N levels, he will be transferred to prison, which offers the necessary academic support, Deputy Public Prosecutor Lim Shin Hui told the court.

Justice Aedit Abdullah said three years were too short a time to enable sufficient rehabilitation, but seven years were too long, given that it remained uncertain whether the boy could be granted early release.

The judge also suggested that the authorities look into some form of pre-sentencing assessment for future cases.

The boy, his parents and his younger brother cannot be named.

He was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) when he was a toddler but completed his primary school education at a mainstream school.

When he was 12, he was diagnosed with Internet gaming disorder and attended various programmes to manage his disorders.

The court heard that he had a difficult relationship with his father, who limited his screen time and set him tasks and assignments.

"When the accused occasionally failed to comply with the deceased's instructions, the deceased would hit the accused and swear at him," said the DPP.

In June 2020, the boy started thinking about killing his father, after the man forbade him to play computer games for a month.

On the morning of Dec 11, 2020, after the boy's mother left for work, the father, who was doing laundry, became agitated when he could not find the detergent scoop.

After hearing his father telling his younger brother that the accused had thrown the scoop away, the boy stabbed his father.

As his father screamed, he placed the knife in the sink and locked himself in his room, while his younger brother called for an ambulance and also called their mother.

Shortly after, the boy came out of his room, apologised, and pressed a towel to his father's neck to stop the bleeding.

The man was pronounced dead in hospital. The boy was arrested after he admitted that he had stabbed his father.

The Institute of Mental Health found that the boy's ASD did not cause or contribute to the offence. His risk of violent reoffending was also assessed to be low.

Defence counsel Shashi Nathan said this was an extremely tragic case that "decimated the family".

He said the boy told him that "I miss my papa", the last time they met at the Boys' Home.

The lawyer added that the boy's mother was diagnosed with cancer shortly after his arrest, and that his firm, Withers KhattarWong, returned his fees to her as she had very little savings left.