‘Highly dangerous’ man accused of stabbing priest in church denied bail

An alleged assailant accused of stabbing a priest at St Joseph’s Church was denied bail on Dec 9 after the prosecution described him as a “highly dangerous” person with a high risk of reoffending.

Basnayake Keith Spencer, 37, is now further remanded due to concerns for public safety.

On Nov 11, the Singaporean was charged with one count of using a knife to voluntarily cause grievous hurt to Reverend Christopher Lee, 57, at the Upper Bukit Timah Road church shortly before 6.30pm on Nov 9.

Basnayake had allegedly approached Father Lee while the latter was distributing communion.

According to court documents, the priest was stabbed in the mouth, leaving him with an 8cm laceration on his tongue, a 3cm cut on his upper left lip and a 4cm cut on the corner of his mouth.

Members of the congregation had disarmed Basnayake before police officers arrived at the scene to arrest him.

In an earlier statement, the police said they did not suspect the incident to be an act of terrorism, and added that there was no evidence to suggest that it was a religiously motivated attack.

Father Lee was discharged from hospital on Nov 15.

The police later took a heavily shackled Basnayake back to the church on Dec 6.

He was observed showing the officers the places he had gone to on the day of the attack before they escorted him back to a police vehicle.

His case has been adjourned to Jan 6, 2025.

If found guilty of voluntarily causing grievous hurt with a dangerous weapon, Basnayake could be sentenced to life imprisonment, or face up to 15 years’ jail, fined and caned.

Source: Straits Times © SPH Media Limited. Permission required for reproduction.

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