The 37-year-old attacker who stabbed a priest with a retractable knife at St Joseph’s Church in Upper Bukit Timah on Saturday (Nov 9) is Basnayake Keith Spencer. The people near the church reported that the man was spotted at the church previously but was not a regular attendee. The attacker’s identity has been independently confirmed by CNA.
According to the officials that were investigating this case, the attacker has a history of serious drug misuse offenses and was previously convicted of voluntarily causing damage. This issue served him for about a year in jail in September 2019. The parish priest, Father Christopher Lee, was stabbed during mass on a Saturday evening.
Members of the congregation, including the Archdiocesan Emergency Response team, bravely managed to subdue the assailant, who was later arrested by the authorities. Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam confirmed that the attacker is a Singaporean Sinhalese who had declared himself as Christian to the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA).
Initial inquiries indicate that the attacker acted by himself and at present the perpetrators are not suspected to have been an act of terrorism. The authorities has asked the public to calm down and refrain from further speculation while investigations are underway to help understand the purpose of the attack. Police also seized four weapons in the possession of the accused, who was not a regular visitor to St Joseph’s Church.
The alleged attacker is to be arraigned in court on Monday on a charge of voluntarily inflicting grievous hurt with a dangerous weapon. Conviction will result in a maximum prison sentence of 15 years, a fine, or both.
