Youth on the run over cheating offences caught by police after he was slashed in Chinatown brawl

The brawl took place on the 16th storey of Block 101 Upper Cross Street, People's Park Centre on May 10, 2020. PHOTO: KAKISCLUBSINGAPORE/FACEBOOK

SINGAPORE - A youth was on the run after committing multiple counts of cheating when two people slashed him with knives in an unrelated brawl in Chinatown during the circuit breaker period on May 10.

Police later found Muhammed Shazryl Hykel Abdullah, 19, with lacerations on his left thigh and slash wounds on his back.

During the circuit breaker from April 7 to June 1, people were not allowed to leave their homes without a valid reason or meet others from different households to socialise.

The teenager pleaded guilty on Monday (Nov 2) to two counts of cheating. He also admitted to one count each of being in possession of drug utensils and being part of an unlawful assembly, as well as an offence under the Covid-19 (Temporary Measures) Act.

Eight other charges, mainly for cheating, will be considered during sentencing.

The court heard that a woman was in a Circular Road restaurant at around 11.45pm on Nov 15 last year when she left her handbag unattended on a table.

She found it missing about 30 minutes later and closed-circuit television footage showed an unidentified person taking it.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Nicholas Lim said that a man identified as Dani Zulastri Mohamed Salim, 20, managed to get hold of her credit cards and passed them to Shazryl the next day. Court documents did not state how the cards ended up in Dani's possession.

The DPP added that Dani told Shazryl to use one of the cards to buy iPhones and sell them for cash. Shazryl did as he was told, buying two iPhones worth nearly $3,000 in total at Mustafa Centre.

Later that day, he used another card to buy two more iPhones worth nearly $4,000 in total at a store in VivoCity shopping mall.

All four devices were later sold and the proceeds totalling about $6,000 were handed to Dani, the court heard. The rightful owner of the cards made a police report and Shazryl was charged with cheating on Dec 2 last year.

He failed to turn up in court on March 25 this year and a warrant of arrest was issued against him.

Shazryl managed to evade the police but was finally caught after he became part of a group involved in a brawl at the People's Park Centre in the wee hours of May 10.

The court heard that the fight broke out after a woman from a rival group was found in his friends' company.

Two people slashed Shazryl with knives before fleeing the scene. The police were alerted and officers later found him lying behind a pillar in a carpark, bleeding profusely from his wounds. An ambulance then rushed him to the Singapore General Hospital.

On Monday, the court called for reports to assess his suitability for probation and reformative training. Offenders sentenced to reformative training will be detained at a centre and made to follow a strict regimen that includes foot drills as well as counselling.

Shazryl will be sentenced on Nov 23. Dani's case is still pending.

For each count of cheating, an offender can be jailed for up to 10 years and fined.

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