St Hilda's Church caretaker jailed for setting fire to room, trying to mislead police with 'jihad' note

St Hilda's Church caretaker Yeo Liang Chai arriving at the State Courts in a police car on April 18, 2017. PHOTO: ST FILE

SINGAPORE - Angry with what he considered to be a security lapse at his workplace, a St Hilda's Church caretaker decided to set fire to a room at the Ceylon Road place of worship on Easter - April 16.

Yeo Liang Chai, 60, pretended not to know about the blaze and tried to put out the fire when his colleagues discovered it.

To cover his tracks when police arrived on the scene, Yeo showed an officer a note with the word "jihad" that he himself had earlier written.

He was jailed for 1½ years on Thursday (Dec 21) after pleading guilty the day before to one count each of committing mischief by fire and intentionally perverting the course of justice.

Yeo started working at the church near Dunman Road on Dec 1 last year.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Andrew Tan said: "During his stint as a full-time caretaker, the accused discovered that there were many practices which he considered to be security and safety lapses. He aired his views and suggestions on numerous occasions. However, his superiors and fellow colleagues did not think the lapses were significant."

At around 7am on April 16, Yeo became upset after he found an unlocked room on the second storey of the church and felt it was a security lapse.

Incensed, he took a bottle of kerosene and set fire to another room, which had been used to store donated books and clothes. The fire caused more than $32,000 in damage, the court heard.

No one was injured in the incident, according to an earlier police statement.

When police arrived on the scene, Yeo showed an officer the "jihad" note to mislead investigations.

DPP Tan said: "The accused recalled a previous incident in December 2016 whereby one of the church's in-house Malay contractors was arrested for theft. The accused believed that he could use the note to create the impression that the friends of the Malay contractor wanted to seek revenge for the arrest."

Yeo was taken to Bedok Police Division for further questioning on the day of the fire, and the Special Investigation Section of the Criminal Investigation Department was called upon to investigate. Yeo finally came clean at around 4pm that day.

DPP Tan urged District Judge May Mesenas to jail Yeo for at least 1½ years, saying that Yeo's note could be "construed as racially and religiously inflammatory".

He added: "It is indisputable that attributing an arson to a jihad is an extremely serious offence, and has significant potential to damage racial and religious relations in Singapore."

For mischief, Yeo could have been jailed for up to seven years and fined.

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