A group of six men beat a 37-year-old to death at Orchard Towers in Singapore on Nov 23 last year. Although the six had been charged with the murder shortly after the incident, the charges were downgraded to that of voluntarily causing grievous hurt to which all six pleaded guilty in October. It is not known why the charges were reduced.

On Thursday, Ahmad Nur Helmy Ahmad Hamdan, 20, was sentenced to 4 1/2 years in prison and eight strokes of the cane for playing the "key role" in the case as explained by District Judge James Leong as he passed the sentence.

The court was read a statement written by Ahmad Nur Helmy's wife in which she described her husband as being "hot tempered" and that she has filed for divorce after being physically abused.

Muhammad Sufian Zainal, 21, and Helmi Abdul Rahim, 28, each got a lesser sentence of four years jail and six strokes of the cane.

The court also heard that Ahmad Nur Helmy had punched Suhaimi Sulong after the latter asked him to perform fellatio. After the deceased walked away and down a staircase, Ahmad Nur Helmy became agitated and was restrained by his friend Muhammad Sufian. Ahmad Nur Helmy broke free and gave chase and punched the deceased until he fell to the ground and continued to kick the victim's face and head as the five other men joined in.

According to earlier media reports, two other youths Ho Ching Boon, 17, and Lai Chee Kuen, 17, said they were approached by the deceased who asked them if they wanted oral sex which they declined.

Ho, Lai and Muhammad Ridhwan Mohd Roslan, 20, were sentenced last week to be confined for between 18 months and three years at a reformative training centre.

The victim died from head and neck injuries an hour after he was taken unconscious to the hospital.