Ringleader of Downtown East clash gets jail, cane for rash of new crimes

The ringleader of a fatal gang clash at Downtown East in 2010 has found himself behind bars again after committing several new crimes, including cheating, drug-related and traffic offences, and possessing dangerous weapons.

Yesterday, Stilwell Ong Keat Pin, 30, was sentenced to a jail term of two years, two months and four weeks, six strokes of the cane, and an $8,200 fine for a series of offences he committed less than a year after his release from his previous prison term in December 2018.

He was also disqualified from holding or obtaining all driving licences for a year after his release.

For the Downtown East gang incident, Ong was in 2012 sentenced to 12 years' jail and 12 strokes of the cane for culpable homicide that led to the death of a polytechnic student. Ong had admitted then to starting the fight and slashing the victim with a chopper.

Yesterday, Ong appeared before a district court via video link from where he is being held in remand.

He was convicted of 19 charges for offences between October 2019 and March last year. These include cheating car rental firms into renting him cars, driving cars without insurance, careless driving, possessing dangerous weapons, and consuming drugs. A total of 27 other charges were taken into account for his sentencing.

During a drug raid on March 30 last year, Ong was caught with a 50cm machete, a 52cm short sword and a black knuckleduster in his possession.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Emily Koh argued for the "pressing need for specific deterrence" with regard to his possession of offensive weapons, in the light of his previous culpable homicide conviction.

Ong was also found to have taken methamphetamine on Aug 3, 2020, and synthetic cannabinoid on March 30 last year.

As for his traffic offences, the court heard that Ong cheated car rental companies into renting him cars by impersonating others in his applications. He crashed the cars on multiple occasions, resulting in property damage and minor injuries to others, and failed to stop or call the police within 24 hours.

Ong's lawyer argued that these were "a series of minor traffic offences (with) no serious injuries" since there were no fractures and the number of days of medical leave the victims required was low.

But District Judge Chay Yuen Fatt disagreed with this characterisation and noted, among other things, that the traffic offences involved cheating and occurred over multiple occasions.

Ong was unable to pay the fine and will serve an additional 41 days behind bars.