SINGAPORE: When his colleague pointed out that there was a bullet missing from his revolver, an auxiliary police officer in charge of an armoury retrieved a bullet, loaded it into a revolver and discharged a round into the countertop.
Muhammad Mukhlis Kamis, 39, was sentenced to two months' jail on Monday (Jul 7).
He pleaded guilty to one count of a rash act endangering the personal safety of his subordinate by discharging a 0.38 calibre Taurus Revolver at a Singapore Air Freight Terminal building.
The court heard that Mukhlis was an auxiliary police officer with the Singapore Airport Terminal Services (SATS) Security Services for 11 years.
He held the rank of Sergeant, and was deployed as an armourer for five years in the leadup to the incident. According to his defence lawyer, he had been promoted to be overall in-charge of the armoury.
The court heard that Mukhlis was at the SATS Auxiliary Police Armoury at the Singapore Air Freight Terminal Core C Building on Nov 22, 2023.
At about 7.40am, another officer, Corporal Zulkarnaen Ramli went to the armoury ahead of his shift to withdraw his equipment and firearms. The 27-year-old was accompanied by a safety officer.
Mukhlis was in the armoury listening to music, which was playing on a speaker via his phone.
He issued nine rounds of 0.38mm ammunition with a Taurus revolver to CPL Zulkarnaen, but the corporal realised that there was one bullet missing and pointed it out.
Mukhlis then retrieved one bullet from the ammo drawer, which was below the countertop.
"He threw this 0.38mm round up in the air and caught it with his left hand," said the prosecutor. "He then inserted the single bullet into the cylinder of the revolver, spun the cylinder, and closed the cylinder."
Mukhlis was holding the revolver in his right hand, pointing it downward towards the countertop.
At his actions, CPL Zulkarnaen stepped back in fear.
Suddenly, Mukhlis placed his finger on the trigger and pulled it, discharging a round that hit the armoury countertop.
The entire sequence lasted about five seconds, the prosecutor said.
After discharging the round, Mukhlis called his supervisors and told them what happened. A thorough search uncovered the slug of the discharged round embedded in the countertop.
No one was injured and no repair costs were incurred for the damage to the countertop.
The SATS control room informed the police about the incident that same morning and Mukhlis was arrested. The revolver and the ammunition were seized.
After the incident, Mukhlis was let go by SATS, said his lawyer Mr Azri Imran Tan from IRB Law.
He sought no more than one to two months' jail, while the prosecutor asked for three to four months.
Mr Tan said his client had been working without incident as an armourer for over five years.
He was with SATS for more than 11 years, around the time he completed his national service, and had been commended for his work.
After being promoted to the rank of sergeant, Mukhlis was appointed as overall in-charge of the armoury by his then-commanding officer, said Mr Tan.
"To this day, our client cannot explain what drove him to decide to - foolishly - load the revolver," said the lawyer.
"Whatever the reasons for his ill-advised actions, he recognises they are inexcusable and in no circumstances should he have loaded the revolver with a live round, let alone fiddle with the same."
He said Mukhlis had immediately and voluntarily called his supervisors and disclosed what happened, cooperating with investigations.
Mukhlis had even told the authorities that he was listening to music at work and that he had thrown the bullet in the air and caught it with his left hand, said the lawyer.
The prosecutor said Mukhlis was "certainly conscious of the serious consequences of loading a live round into a revolver", as he was a certified armourer.
"There was an element of playfulness in his actions, by throwing the round into the air and catching it with his hand," said the prosecutor.
For a rash act endangering personal safety, Mukhlis could have been jailed for up to six months, fined up to S$2,500, or both.
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