By K.C. Vijayan, Law Correspondent

THE Court of Appeal raised the jail term of a gang leader even though he did not lay a hand on his victim, to make it clear that there was no room for leniency for those who perpetuate gang violence.

It warned that such violence if left unchecked would have wider consequences in the community.

The three-judge court underscored its stand when it explained why it raised the jail term of ringleader Leong Soon Kheong, who was behind the fatal gang attack on polytechnic student Wong Dao Jing in February 2003.

Leong, 32, had initially been sentenced to four years and nine months in the High Court last September after he pleaded guilty to culpable homicide. But the public prosecutor successfully appealed against the term and Leong was given seven years' jail.

In the grounds for its decision published last week, the court said this was a case where group violence fed upon itself and led to greater violence, which in turn underlined the need for deterrence when the 'power of numbers is abused'.

'Left unchecked, such conduct can very easily morph into an uncontrollable spiral of tragic consequences that can affect the wider community,' said Justice V.K. Rajah, writing on the court's behalf.

In cases of group violence, in particular, 'the judicial jaw must be set tightly against leniency to unmistakably encapsulate the public's abhorrence for such conduct', he said.

Dao Jing, 18, who had stolen a backpack which was left unattended at a video arcade in the Lucky Chinatown Shopping Centre, was set upon by Leong's group when he tried to return it.

The court drew attention to Leong's role as a mastermind and leader.

Leong had a 'powerful reason for the attack as he wanted to show his authority and bravado in front of his accomplices', the judge said.

He was unduly aggressive and although he did not personally attack the student, he ordered the assault by the others.

He allowed the attack to continue despite pleas to stop until Dao Jing lay prostrate on the floor, reflecting he was 'every sense the ringleader of this brazen and dastardly attack'.

The beating stopped on his orders.

'The enormity of his role in orchestrating the attack dwarfed the fact that he did not personally attack the deceased,' said Justice Rajah.

The court also rejected Leong's claim that the group was provoked by the alleged arrogant behaviour of the student.

It said even if it was so, it was no reason to pare the jail term.

Justice Rajah said the violence inflicted on the youth was wholly uncalled for and had to be dealt with a 'distinctly more severe sentence'.

Leong is the only culprit nabbed and convicted of the crime. Of the four other suspects, one died in Johor Baru in 2007, a murder victim according to the Malaysian police, while the rest are still on the run.

Leong, an unemployed Malaysian had been on the run for three years. He was nabbed by Malaysian police last year and handed over to the Singapore authorities.

This article was first published in The Straits Times.