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Father of the twin sons found dead at Greenridge Crescent canal charged with murder

Two children were found dead at Greenridge Crescent Playground. (SCREENSHOT: Google Maps)
Two children were found dead at Greenridge Crescent Playground. (SCREENSHOT: Google Maps)

SINGAPORE — A man was charged with murder on Monday (24 January) following the deaths of his 11-year-old twin boys at the Upper Bukit Timah area.

Xavier Yap Jung Houn, 48, is accused of killing one son, Ethan Yap, between 4.23pm and 6.25pm on Friday at the covered canal located at Greenridge Crescent playground, according to his charge sheet, which did not state how he carried out the alleged murder.

Yap was only tendered one charge over Ethan, and not his other son Ashton. It is unclear why Ashton was not mentioned in the charge sheet.

Yap, who was dressed in a white polo T-shirt, appeared via videolink in the State Courts on Monday. He is represented by lawyer Anil Singh Sandhu, who made a plea to the media to give the family space.

"The media is present this morning in court and the victims here are two young children aged 11 years and for the past few days, the media has been quite active in reporting this matter," he said in court.

"But I am sincerely urging the media to give the family some space and privacy to deal with the loss of the two young children. The family is grieving," he said.

The prosecution applied for Yap to be remanded for one week with permission to bring him out for scene visitations. The judge granted the application and Yap's case will next be heard in court on 31 January.

Yap had called the police about 6.25pm on Friday asking for help at a playground along Greenridge Crescent, according to the police.

When police officers arrived at the scene, Yap's two sons were found lying motionless in a nearby canal and were pronounced dead at the scene by a paramedic.

According to media reports, the twins were special needs children.

If convicted of murder under section 302(1) of the Penal Code, Yap faces the death penalty.

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