Death and life in prison for two men from Sarawak convicted of 2010 Kallang slashings

SINGAPORE - Two men from Sarawak, Malaysia, convicted of murder for the brutal 2010 slashings here at Kallang were finally sentenced on Monday, with one headed to the gallows and the other jailed for life.

Micheal Garing, 26, and Tony Imba, 36, were part of a gang that went on a robbery spree, severely injuring three victims and killing a fourth man.

Both Michael and Tony were found guilty of murder last year after a 12-day trial the year before. It has been almost another year before they learnt their fates.

Michael, whom High Court Judge Choo Han Tek had said that evidence showed was the one who had struck the dead man, was given the death sentence.

Tony will be serving life in prison and given 24 strokes of the cane.

Michael's lawyer, Mr Ramesh Tiwary, said his client will be appealing his sentence.

The pair and two accomplices had attacked and robbed the four men in the Kallang area from late in the night of May 29, 2010 until the early hours of the next day.

Before the fatal assault on 41-year-old construction worker Shanmuganathan Dillidurai, they set upon two construction workers from India - Mr Sandeep Singh, 27, and Mr Egan Karuppaiah, 46 - and Singaporean Ang Jun Heng, 22.

The dead man had a fractured skull, a severed left hand, a slash wound across his neck and a back wound so deep that his shoulder blade was cracked.

One accomplice, Donny Meluda, 23, is at large. The other, Hairee Landak, 22, was sentenced to 33 years' jail and 24 strokes of the cane for armed robbery with grievous hurt. He testified in the trial.

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