Singapore — A man who was doing the laundry at home could not find the scoop that measures out the detergent to put in the washing machine. He asked the eldest of his sons if he had hidden the scoop. Being questioned like this angered the teenager, who already had a difficult relationship with his father, whom he felt was too strict and controlling.
On Dec 11, 2020, he overheard his father tell the younger boy that his brother had thrown the scoop away. This enraged the teenager that he decided to act on his wish to kill his father.In the kitchen, he chose a fruit knife with a 9.5 cm-long blade, over a bigger knife. When his father again confronted him over the missing scoop, he denied it once more and went to his room and brooded over the incident.
In the Supreme Court on Monday, the court heard that the teenager had been diagnosed with a gaming addiction several years earlier. The boy pleaded guilty to culpable homicide and will serve five years detention. Under the Children and Young Persons Act, neither the boy nor his family members can be identified.
The Straits Times reported that this is the first sentencing under a provision in the Children and Young Persons Act someone involved in a case of murder, culpable homicide, attempted murder or causing grievous hurt is allowed to be detained. He will stay at the Singapore Boy’s Home until finishing his O-levels, and then be moved to jail and attend school there.