Robber Who Fled Court Claimed ‘Voices’ Told Him to ‘Go Home’

One thing that we’ve all been taught from young is that our actions have consequences.

If you did something that you’re not supposed to do, you should also be prepared to deal with whatever comes next.

Unfortunately, this man didn’t quite get the memo.

Man Fled From Courtroom During Break

Visvanathan Vadivelu, 50, was supposed to be sentenced on Tuesday, 17 September for one count of robbery and three drug charges.

But things didn’t go as planned because he ran off from the courtroom during a short 10-minute break.

Wah, he must have aced his IPPT.

So, why was he charged?

Back in July 2017, he robbed a Shell petrol station in Upper Bukit Timah Road while armed with a knife and took a total of $1,193 from the cash register before fleeing on his motorbike. He also stopped to change his attire.

But the change of attire did not really help him as his actions had already been caught on closed-circuit television cameras at the petrol station, and he was arrested later on that day.

He also consumed drugs from June 2017, and took heroin and methamphetamine upon being released on court bail.

He had pleaded guilty to all of these, but then decided to change his mind later on.

Visvanathan told the court that he wanted to retract his plea as he had misunderstood what his lawyer had said to him. The judge decided to call for a short break so that the lawyer could be called into the courtroom.

And this was when he fled.

However, he didn’t manage to escape for long as his mother called the police on him the next day and he was arrested in this flat.

He had been on bail of $70,000 when he had bolted.

But why did he escape? Of all people, he should know that in Singapore, you can run but you can’t hide.

The reason is even more bewildering.

Heard Voices Telling Him To Go Home

Visvanathan was brought back to the courtroom on Thursday, 19 September, and this time he was not offered bail when he requested for it.

Yes, he still had the audacity to request.

He tried to explain himself for fleeing from court by saying that he had heard voices telling him to go home.

The judge questioned him, saying, “You did not actually surrender to the police… and you have not given me a reason why during the short break, you failed to return.”

“I was hearing voices. The voices started asking me to go back home but now I’m okay,” he replied.

So it wasn’t his fault, you know. It was the voices.

Requested To Be Sent To IMH

Visvanathan also asked for his sentencing to be postponed further, because he wanted to settle family and personal matters.

Oh, and he had one last request.

To be sentenced to IMH instead of jail.

He told the judge that he was “mentally unwell” and asked if he could be sent to the Institute of Mental Health (IMH).

The judge denied his request and told him that was not a sentencing option, and ordered him to serve 11.5 years in jail instead.

This includes an additional nine months of jail time due to the fact that Visvanathan can’t be caned for his crimes, as he is 50 years old.

Those convicted of armed robbery can be jailed for up to 10 years and given at least 12 strokes of the cane.

Hopefully, he has learnt his lesson and doesn’t try to flee from jail too.

Here’s the cat gif again to show you how he fled: