By Alvina Soh | Posted: 02
December 2011 1702 hrs
SINGAPORE: One was a 37-year-old Briton, who jumped
off the rooftop of Fullerton Bay Hotel into the waters around
Marina Bay in a drunken state.
The other was a local delivery man, believed to have been in a
troubled mental state days before he was found dead in the waters
off Harbourfront Walk in front of VivoCity.
At two separate hearings on Friday, State Coroner Kessler Soh ruled
that they shared the same tragic fate - both drowned and there was
no foul play suspected in their deaths.
William Hart, a Briton who headed the sales department at an
international bank, died after falling nearly seven storeys from
the rooftop of the hotel where he went drinking with a friend on
April 7.
Hart, who had several glasses of wine, was also shown in his
friend's video recording on that day saying he wanted to jump from
the rooftop and that he could "make the jump".
The 1.8m-tall man, who had a reputation of jumping into swimming
pools or water bodies from heights, then proceeded to do so.
A toxicology report by Mr Leong Hsiao Tung, a Health Sciences
Authority (HSA) analyst, revealed that there were high levels of
ethanol in Hart's blood, indicating that he was clearly intoxicated
and that his judgment was impaired.
Mr Hart's father and stepmother, who turned up in court on Friday,
said they were "very saddened and were still coming to
terms".
In the other case, 38-year-old Mr Radin Bahrom Radin Muhammad Din
drowned at the sea near VivoCity.
Two weeks before his death on July 1, family members said he had
been behaving strangely, claiming to have "heard voices".
On that particular day, Mr Radin also behaved abnormally and had a
fight at his workplace at Prima Tower at Keppel Road.
He attacked two security officers.
Around midnight, witnesses saw Mr Radin jumping into the sea, where
the tide was 2.7-metre high.
A HSA toxicology report revealed that there was a higher than
normal level of Dextromethophan, a drug found in cough syrup, in
his blood that can cause confusion, hallucinations and impair
judgment.
The State Coroner also noted that Mr Radin was unable to swim and
that this may have affected his actions.
- CNA