SINGAPORE - An Australian man admitted in a Singapore district court on Friday (Feb 25) that he was “a bit drunk” and had yelled vulgarities about Muslims after he flung a wine bottle from the seventh storey of a condominium in Spottiswoode Park Road in 2019.

It fell towards a group of Malay-Muslims at a barbecue area on the fifth storey and struck delivery driver Nasiari Sunee’s head, fracturing his skull.

The 73-year-old grandfather of nine died on Aug 19 that year.

The bottle ricocheted off the elderly man’s head and hit the right shoulder of his wife, Madam Manisah Sitri. As a result, the 69-year-old housewife’s arm had to be placed in a sling for about two months.

The Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) said in a statement on Friday that Andrew Gosling’s offences were religiously aggravated as he demonstrated hostility towards Muslims.

The AGC added: “He ran from the scene after throwing the bottle to evade detection, shouting crude, religiously charged vulgarities about Muslims. Gosling’s actions were outrageous, senseless and appalling.”

The 49-year-old has pleaded guilty to committing a rash act that led to Mr Nasiari’s death. The unemployed man also admitted to causing grievous hurt to Madam Manisah by performing the act.

Deputy Public Prosecutors G. Kannan, Thiagesh Sukumaran and Ben Mathias Tan stated in court documents: “The accused committed the act as he was angry and upset at the terrorist attacks committed by Islamic fundamentalist groups in Bali and Melbourne that had killed Australian citizens.”

But a psychiatric report had said Gosling’s anti-Muslim thoughts at the time of the offences were “obsessive negative thoughts” he was prone to when intoxicated and “did not represent (his) true feelings or intentions”.

The court heard that Gosling entered Singapore on July 15, 2019 to look for a job here and rented a unit on the seventh storey of the Spottiswoode 18 condominium the following month.

After consuming alcohol on Aug 18, 2019, he peered from his balcony and saw a group of Malay-Muslims having a gathering at a barbecue area two storeys below. Mr Nasiari and his wife were part of it.

The prosecutors said that during investigations, Gosling admitted that a thought crossed his mind that he “ought to use a weapon, such as a gun” to shoot the group comprising about 15 people. 

But he later dismissed this thought as he felt that it would be a “heinous” act.

At around 8.30pm, Gosling left his home to throw some rubbish at a common chute at a lift lobby.

While he was there, he found an empty wine bottle, which weighed about 600g, and flung it towards the group to “startle” them.

After that, he ran back to his apartment while yelling religiously charged vulgarities about Muslims.

The bottle hit the couple, and two ambulances took them to the Singapore General Hospital.

Police later interviewed all residents at the condominium.

On Aug 20, 2019, two officers interviewed Gosling and showed him the bottle. He lied, claiming he had never seen it before.

Three days later, Gosling was told to present himself at the Central Police Division to provide a statement.

He then realised that the bottle could be traced to him after he provided his DNA and fingerprints to the authorities. Gosling finally surrendered to the police on Aug 28, 2019.

The court heard that Madam Manisah had been married to Mr Nasiari for about 45 years. Following his death, she now keeps herself busy in order not to think about him.

The prosecutors said: “Although (Madam Manisah) tries to stay strong in front of her children, (she) would cry to herself, especially when she is alone.”

On Friday, the prosecutors urged Principal District Judge Victor Yeo to sentence Gosling to seven years’ jail.

They added: “This was no random act of ‘killer litter’. The accused had noticed the gathering and recognised those at the gathering as Muslims. 

He cowardly fled the scene after throwing the bottle to evade detection, shouting crude, religiously charged vulgarities about Muslims.”

Gosling is represented by Senior Counsel N. Sreenivasan, Mr S. Balamurugan, Ms Gloria James and Mr Kevin Liew. They asked him to be given two to three years' jail.

The lawyers said in their mitigation plea that Gosling’s actions during the incident did not reflect his true intentions and were unlikely to have been religiously motivated.

They told the court: “The words that the accused uttered did not carry the weight of any anti-Muslim tendencies – rather, they were a result of his negative obsessive thoughts that manifested while he was intoxicated. 

“The thoughts that were verbalised were a product of his disinhibited and impaired mental state at the time and the fact that he was prone to negativity when he drank.”

The court also heard that Gosling had voluntarily offered $20,000 in compensation to Mr Nasiari’s family and they have since accepted it.

Gosling is expected to be sentenced in April.

Following the incident, the police went door to door at the 35-storey condo to look for suspects.

Residents said officers had shown them a picture of an Italian wine bottle.

They were also asked if they had been drinking wine and whether they were willing to provide fingerprint samples.

Gosling, who had worked in IT, was arrested on Aug 28.

For causing a death by committing a rash act, an offender can be jailed for up to five years and fined.

For causing grievous hurt to another person by performing a rash act, an offender can be jailed for up to four years and fined up to $10,000.