SINGAPORE - The Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) army officer who was charged over his role in the death of full-time national serviceman Dave Lee in 2018 has been given a discharge not amounting to an acquittal, said the Attorney-General's Chambers (AGC).

The accused, Captain Tan Baoshu, has been diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer, an AGC spokesman told The Straits Times on Wednesday (Feb 5).

"On the application of the prosecution, the Court has granted Capt Tan a discharge not amounting to an acquittal of the charge against him under Section 304A(a) of the Penal Code," she said.

Court records showed that District Judge Lim Tse Haw had given the order on Jan 8 this year.

Tan, 31, was the supervising officer of an 8km fast march on April 18, 2018, in which Corporal First Class (CFC) Lee, 19, participated.

CFC Lee, a guardsman from the 1st Battalion Singapore Guards, had collapsed after the march at Bedok Camp and suffered a heat stroke.

He died on April 30, about two weeks after he was admitted to Changi General Hospital.

Tan, then the officer commanding the battalion's Support Company, was charged in October 2018 with causing the death by performing a rash act, including failing to evacuate the victim in a timely manner.

He was also accused of disallowing the necessary treatment which CFC Lee needed.

If convicted of causing CFC Lee's death by performing a rash act, Tan could have been jailed for up to five years and fined.

In August 2018, Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen gave a detailed account in Parliament of the events preceding CFC Lee's death.

A committee of inquiry (COI) set up to investigate the death found that cooling measures taken after CFC Lee had completed the march were inadequate, among other things.

It also noted that there was a significant gap between the onset of symptoms and his arrival at the medical centre, and the delay was because the people attending to him mistook his symptoms as due to physical exhaustion, said Dr Ng then.