By Chong Shin Yen

AFTER sneaking out with his rifle around 10pm on 2 Sep last year, Dave Teo Ming's first stop was his flat at Bedok.

He went to his room to retrieve three bullets which he had taken earlier during a live-firing exercise.

He also took some cable ties he had bought earlier so he could tie up his ex-girlfriend's family.

Teo lied to his grandmother, who was at home, that he was going to work as a bouncer at Golden Mile Complex.

He took a taxi to campmate Ong Chee Wee's house, where he collected his black blazer which he had lent to Mr Ong.

Teo then took a taxi to Golden Mile Complex, where he borrowed $200 from a friend. He then went to Geylang Lorong 16 and checked into the Champagne Hotel.

He called Mr Ong and asked him to tell his grandmother, 69, to take care of herself and not to worry about him.

By then, Mr Ong had heard that Teo had gone AWOL with his rifle. When asked, Teo said: 'I would give the first bullet to Crystal (his ex-girlfriend).'

In the hotel room, Teo assembled the rifle and loaded the bullets. He contacted his friend, Ong Boon Jun, 22, a pimp, to arrange a Thai prostitute for him.

Ong arrived shortly with the prostitute and subsequently discovered the rifle which Teo had hidden under the pillows.

Teo told Ong that he had stolen it to commit robbery.

Around 4.15am, Teo left the room with the disassembled rifle and went to look for his ex-girlfriend, Miss Crystal Liew, 18, at her condominium in Simei.

He climbed over a low wall to gain entry and went to the basement carpark near her block.

He thought about catching hold of her and forcibly taking her with him.

Around 6am, Teo called his platoon commander, Lieutenant Choo Yong Sheng and said he felt like dying, and wanted to use the rifle to shoot himself.

He said he had chosen this path and there was no turning back. If the police tried to catch or shoot him, he would not hesitate to shoot back.

Teo added that he was 'going crazy' and asked Lt Choo not to tell his grandparents what had happened as he did not want them to worry.

He hung up after telling Lt Choo that he did not want to talk for too long for fear of being tracked down.

Teo then called Miss Liew's home but was told by the family's maid that she was asleep.

He left the condo around 7.30am and returned to the hotel room, where he had breakfast with his pimp friend Ong and the prostitute.

Teo later had sex with her before leaving at 7pm.

He headed to Beach Road to buy a larger duffel bag for the rifle, then took a taxi to Cathay Cineleisure in Orchard Road, reaching at 7.50pm.

Teo entered a cubicle in a third-storey toilet, where he assembled the rifle and loaded the bullets.

Just after he came out, the police burst in and arrested him following a struggle.

Asking for a deterrent sentence, Deputy Public Prosecutor Peter Koy said Teo had flagrantly disregarded the danger of carrying a loaded rifle in a public place.

He said: 'Fortunately, nothing disastrous occurred. The sentences have to reflect the severity of the offences and to deter like-minded offenders.'

Teo's pimp friend Ong, who did not inform police of Teo's whereabouts, was jailed 6 1/2 years and given six strokes of the cane in February.

This article was first published in The New Paper on July 8, 2008.