Teen charged with murder, to undergo psychiatric observation

A psychiatric observation has been ordered for a 16-year-old River Valley High School student after he was charged yesterday with murdering his schoolmate.

The 16-year-old appeared before a district court via video-link dressed in a red polo T-shirt.

His hair was dishevelled and his eyes darted around the room as he faced one charge of murdering the 13-year-old at a level-four toilet in the school between 11.16am and 11.44am on Monday.

The accused cannot be named as he is under 18 years of age.

The prosecution asked that the youth be remanded at Complex Medical Centre (CMC) in Changi Prison for psychiatric observation.

The police prosecutor told the court that preliminary investigations revealed the 16-year-old was assessed at the Institute of Mental Health (IMH) in 2019 after he attempted to commit suicide.

He was taken into custody for his safety, referred to IMH for assessment, then discharged, the prosecutor said.

"Given the circumstances, we are submitting that he requires psychiatric evaluation," he said.

The accused, whose parents were not in court, was represented by lawyer Peter Keith Fernando.

Mr Fernando confirmed that his client's parents had informed him of the incident, which happened when the boy was in Secondary 2.

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The boy will be remanded at CMC for psychiatric observation for three weeks and is scheduled to be in court next on Aug 10.

Those found guilty of murder can receive the death penalty. However, those aged below 18 will not get the death sentence but could be given life imprisonment instead.

In a post on his Facebook page minutes after the boy was charged, Law and Home Affairs Minister K. Shanmugam called the incident "one of the worst things that can happen to parents".

"It's completely shocking because safety is assumed and normally (in Singapore anyway) assured," he wrote.

He added that the alleged attacker is also young and had some history of mental health issues.

Mr Shanmugam also addressed questions about how the boy got an axe, which the police said on Monday that they had seized.

"Preliminary investigations suggest that he purchased it online. But we will know the full facts only after investigations are completed," Mr Shanmugam wrote.

He added: "We all grieve with the parents of the boy who was killed. It's difficult to even describe the true extent of their grief."

At the mortuary yesterday morning, a police van arrived at the compound at around 8.45am.

Three people dressed in black and wearing lanyards got off the vehicle carrying boxes.

A second police van arrived at the mortuary about 10 minutes later.

The police said in a statement on Monday that they arrested the 16-year-old boy, a Secondary 4 student, for his suspected involvement in the death of a Secondary 1 student, 13. Both boys are Singaporeans.

At about 11.40am on Monday, the police found the younger teenager lying motionless with multiple wounds at a toilet.

He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Preliminary investigations revealed that the teenagers are not known to each other.

An axe was also seized as a case exhibit.