St Joseph’s Church stabbing: Man to be charged on Nov 11; police say no evidence attack was religiously motivated

SINGAPORE: A 37-year-old man will be charged in court on Monday (Nov 11) with voluntarily causing grievous hurt by dangerous weapon, following the stabbing of a Catholic priest at St Joseph’s Church in Upper Bukit Timah on Saturday evening.
If found guilty, the man, who was not named by the police in a media briefing in the early hours of Sunday, faces a jail term of up to 15 years, as well as a fine or caning. 
The police will seek a court order to remand the man at the Institute of Mental Health for psychiatric evaluation.
The police said there is currently no evidence to suggest that it was a religiously motivated attack.
On Saturday evening, Father Christopher Lee, who is the parish priest of the church, was stabbed by a man during mass. 
The attack happened during communion at the parish’s monthly children’s mass, during which children perform duties that are usually undertaken by adults. Children also occupy the front rows at these events, but they are open to all to attend.
Members of the congregation, including the Archdiocesan Emergency Response team, helped subdue the assailant, according to the statement by the Catholic Church.
The attacker was later arrested by police officers and is Singaporean Sinhalese who had previously declared to the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) that he is Christian, according to Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam.
“He has past antecedents for serious hurt and misuse of drugs offences,” the police said in an earlier statement.
“Based on the preliminary investigations, the man is believed to have acted alone and the police do not suspect that this is an act of terrorism, for now.
“The public is urged to remain calm and refrain from speculation as investigations are ongoing to ascertain the motive behind this incident.”
Father Lee is currently warded at the National University Hospital. The church said in a Facebook post late on Saturday night that he is conscious and in stable condition. 
The post added that all masses and events will proceed as normal on Sunday.
Two men who helped disarm the assailant were awarded the Singapore Police Force’s (SPF) Public Spiritedness Award after the media briefing at the Jurong Police Division Headquarters.
“We saw our priest being attacked. It was very instinctive that we had to go and disarm this person,” said Mr Richard Tan Chai Boon.
The other award recipient, Mr Damien Liew Khee Rui, said: “I needed to do something to make sure that no one else gets hurt, or (that) nothing bad further happens.”