TWO priests from the Novena Church 'goofed up' when they tried to cast evil spirits out of a woman without following standard procedures, her lawyer contended in court on Friday.

In fact, the exorcism they performed on Madam Amutha Valli Krishnan, 52, was 'amateurish', said her lawyer, Mr RS Bajwa.

On Friday morning, Father Jacob Ong took the stand for the first time in the trial, and like Father Simon Tan before him, was grilled by Mr Bajwa on whether the two priests had carried out an exorcism on Madam Valli.

Mr Bajwa asserted that the essence of exorcism is to expel a demon from a person - and that was what the priests were trying to do that night. Father Jacob maintained that they had only offered deliverance, prayers and sang hymns.

Father Jacob said an exorcism would entail reporting the case to the bishop, who would appoint an official exorcist. There are certain rites to be followed, none of which were performed on Madam Valli, he said.

Mr Bajwa countered: 'Precisely because you were so amateurish, you all had no idea what are the rites to be followed.'

Father Jacob replied: 'If I had done so, I would have violated the rules of the church.'

The lawyer said that Father Simon had violated the rules by telling the spirit of a dead soldier to leave her, which went beyond prayer.

'The two of you goofed up that day,' Mr Bajwa said. 'Both of you attempted an exorcism without the checks and safeguards.'

Read the full story in Saturday's edition of The Straits Times.