Man who attacked St Joseph’s Church priest has been identified as having previously been convicted of stabbing his ex-girlfriend

Churchgoers told ST on 10 November that they were in shock after the attack at their church.

Rosalin Kolandasamy, 69, said she learned about the stabbing from a friend who attended the service on November 9, just minutes after the incident.

The retired administrator, who attended St Joseph’s Church for three decades, said Father Lee was always willing to bring parishioners together.

For example, he rented a 20-passenger bus from the church in Bukit Timah to go to a walking event in Bishan recently organized by Caritas Singapore, the social service arm of the Roman Catholic Church.

Ms. Rosalin said she was unaware of any other church that did this. “He said he wanted everyone to go to this church as a family,” he added, wishing Father Lee a speedy recovery.

Jose Nidhin, a 40-year-old software engineer, said his family usually attends services on Saturday evenings, but did not do so on Nov. 9 because they were at church in the morning for his son’s first reconciliation, also known as confession.

“Since it was a children’s mass, my son would be at the front,” Mr Nidhin said. “It’s pretty bad to do something like that in front of kids.”

Police said that the suspect will appear in court on November 11 on charges of intentionally causing serious injury with a dangerous weapon.

If convicted, the crime under Article 326 of the Criminal Code No. 1871 carries a penalty of life imprisonment or imprisonment for a term that may extend to 15 years. The offender will also be liable to cane and/or fine.