Tan Chor Jin, nicknamed “One Eyed Dragon”, arriving at the magistrate’s court in Singapore for his trial last February. He was sentenced to death, yesterday, for killing a nightclub owner in a rare gangland-style shooting in Singapore. (AFP)

SINGAPORE • A man nicknamed “One Eyed Dragon” was sentenced yesterday to hang for killing a nightclub owner in a rare Singapore shooting which the judge likened to an assassination.

Tan Chor Jin, 39, appeared calm and smiled occasionally while the verdict was read.

He was convicted for the murder in February last year of Lim Hock Soon in a case that shocked Singapore, one of Asia’s safest cities.

High Court Judge Tay Yong Kwang said the killing had “the hallmarks of an assured and accomplished assassin.”

Court documents showed Tan, who earned his nickname for being blind in one eye, entered Lim’s flat on February 15 last year.

He tied up Lim’s wife, 13-year-old daughter and domestic helper, looted the family’s valuables and then fired a series of shots into the victim’s face and body.

He fled to Malaysia but was arrested and extradited 10 days later.

Tan represented himself without a lawyer at the trial. After the sentence was handed down, Tan’s only response was to ask the judge for permission to smoke in prison while awaiting his fate.

“They don’t understand what are human rights in the prison, nor allow us to smoke,” Tan said.

Singapore carries out the death penalty by hanging. Tan can still appeal the sentence.

Tan said in a police statement that he was a former gang leader and the victim Lim owed him money from illegal betting.

He said he was in Lim’s house on the day of the killing to talk things over but they got into an argument.

Tan argued he was under the influence of alcohol at the time of the incident and shot Lim accidentally in a struggle.

The judge rejected Tan’s defence, saying “however ‘high’ he claimed to have been at the material time, he had not gone over the precipice of sanity.”

Medical experts testified that Tan’s “ability to form an intent was not impaired” despite his intoxication, the judge said. Tan was still “clear-headed” and able to engage in rational conversation and give coherent orders to Lim and his family, Tay added.

The judge described as “nothing more than laughable fantasy” Tan’s assertion that the weapon accidentally misfired six rounds.

“It was even more remarkable that five out of six accidental shots could hit the deceased from both front and back and from various angles,” Tay said to a courtroom packed with curious members of the public.

The murder trial was spread over seven days since it began in January. The prosecution called 47 witnesses.

Tan’s friends, including a former gang member, attended court for the verdict.