SINGAPORE, July 18 — Claiming that he could not find work due to ongoing police investigations, a 17-year-old carried a bag containing more than 400 units of unlicensed health products to sell in Geylang while on bail.

He pleaded guilty to nine charges on Monday (July 15), including seven charges of selling unregistered health products, one charge of rioting and one charge of voluntarily causing hurt.

A judge called for two reports to assess the teenager’s suitability for probation and reformative training.

Another 16 similar charges will be taken into consideration for sentencing when his case returns to court on Sept 2.

The name of the teenager cannot be published under the Children and Young Persons Act, which prevents the identification of offenders under 18 years old.

Selling health products in Geylang

On March 28 this year, the Health Sciences Authority (HSA) and the police conducted an operation in the vicinity of Lorong 18 Geylang.

There, they spotted the teenager behaving suspiciously and conducted a physical check. Officers found 21 types of suspected health products amounting to 477 units in total in his bag.

Some of the seized bag items included 160 tablets of Epam Nitrazepam, a medicine with sedative effects that he sold for S$6 (RM20.9) a slab and various unlabelled bottles containing various coloured liquids sold for S$20 each.

HSA’s analysis found that some of the unlabelled bottles with brown liquid contained a mixture of opioid pain relievers such as codeine and tramadol.

The teenager had been working for an unknown man for eight days and would collect stocks of cough syrup products and tablets from an unknown delivery person along Lorong 18 Geylang.

For a pay of S$100 a day, he would supply the stocks in the vicinity from 9am to 9pm every day after being told the selling price.

Despite its illegality, the teen claimed that he made such sales because he could not find work due to his ongoing police investigations for a separate offence, for which he was tagged electronically while on bail.

Court documents did not state what police investigation he was facing at the time.

Unlawful assembly

Some months earlier, when he was aged 16, the teenager was involved in an unlawful assembly with two of his brothers, aged 20 and 18, another 20-year-old male, a 19-year-old male and a 19-year-old female who is a friend of the group.

In December last year, the teenager and the group confronted a 20-year-old male who had previously dated a partner of one of the group. The gender of this partner was not given in court documents.

The 20-year-old male had recorded a sex video with his ex-partner when they were a couple in November 2022 and had shown the video to others.

The teenager was recruited by his older brother to help with the current boyfriend’s "settlement talk” with the 20-year-old who shared the sex video and agreed to join the discussion.

He was instructed along with his younger brother to stand at neighbouring pathways at a rooftop garden in a multi-storey car park on Senja Road in Bukit Panjang, to prevent the victim from escaping.

When the group spotted the victim, he ran and four members of the group chased him, including the now 17-year-old.

The victim sustained slashes on his back and buttocks from one of the group members’ bread knife and was also slashed on his left arm.

Seeing that his mouth was turning pale, the group took the victim to a staircase landing and tried to give him water, and the teenager applied a tourniquet to try to staunch the bleeding.

The group dispersed and the teenager was involved in disposing of the knife.

The court heard that the victim would have a "permanent disability” from the incident since he sustained an injury to his left radial nerve and had to undergo reconstructive surgery for the cut.

The case of the 20-year-old man is ongoing, while the cases of the 19-year-old male and 19-year-old female are fixed for sentencing in August. The three brothers, including the teenager, will be sentenced on Sept 2.

Assault in school

When the teenager was a Secondary 2 student in July 2021, he assaulted a 13-year-old male peer.

On July 16 in 2021, he saw the other male student stepping on his bag. The two students began to argue and the 13-year-old boy brought up an incident when the teenager had previously slapped his buttocks.

A teacher heard this and indicated that the 13-year-old boy could slap the teenager’s buttocks and he did so.

The teenager stood up and told the teacher that since the victim had kicked him earlier, he could also retaliate.

Before the teacher could reply, the teenager kicked the victim and pulled his hair, punching him several times on the face and causing his fellow student to bleed in the eye and lip.

The victim fell backwards and hit his head on the floor. Two teachers had to separate them, and the 13-year-old boy was warded in the hospital for two days.

He had to undergo eye surgery and his eyesight was affected, in addition to having orbital fractures and a concussion.

For supplying unregistered health products, the teenager can be jailed for up to two years, or fined up to S$50,000, or both.

Anyone guilty of rioting can be jailed for up to seven years and can be caned.

Those convicted of voluntarily causing grievous hurt can be jailed for up to five years or fined up to S$10,000, or both. — TODAY