SINGAPORE - An Australian man has been charged over his alleged involvement in an incident at a condominium in Spottiswoode Park Road in which a 73-year-old man died after he was struck by a glass bottle.

Andrew Gosling, 47, who works in IT, was charged with one count of causing a death by performing a rash act when he appeared in court on Friday (Aug 30).

Court documents said he allegedly threw a “Polissena Il Boro 2016” wine bottle from the seventh-storey lift landing of the Spottiswoode 18 condominium towards its barbecue area on the fifth storey at around 8.30pm on Aug 18.

The glass bottle is said to have struck delivery driver Nasiari Sunee’s head, causing his death.

Police said in a statement on Friday said that officers arrested Gosling on Wednesday. It was not mentioned in court if he lives at the condominium.

A media liason for Orica, an Australia-based multi-national corporation, said that Gosling “has been a contractor at Orica”, but they do not have anything further on the matter.

According to Gosling’s Linkedin profile page, he has been working at Orica’s Singapore office since July this year.

Mr Nasiari was at a housewarming party of a relative when the bottle hit him just as he was about to eat.

The oldest of his four children, service manager Nas Suriati Nasiari, 44, told The Straits Times that relatives suddenly heard two thuds before her father collapsed on the ground with a head wound.

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They then spotted an intact glass bottle nearby.

A relative, who is a nurse, tended to Mr Nasiari before he was taken by ambulance to the Singapore General Hospital at about 8.35pm.

Madam Nas Suriati said that his heart stopped thrice during treatment and the family decided not to resuscitate him if it stopped a fourth time.

“We didn’t want to prolong the pain,” she said.

Mr Nasiari’s blood pressure plunged the next morning and he died around 9am.

The grandfather of nine was buried on Aug 20.

Following the incident, police went door to door at Spottiswoode 18 to look for the person responsible for causing the bottle to fall from the 35-storey building.

Residents said that officers showed them a picture of an Italian wine bottle. They were also asked if they had been drinking wine and were willing to provide fingerprint samples.

No bail was offered to Gosling on Friday, who is now remanded at the Central Police Division.

The Australian is represented by lawyer Gloria James-Civetta and his case has been adjourned to Sept 3.

For Mr Nasiari’s family, one burning question remains. Madam Nas Suriati told ST on Friday that they want to know why the bottle was thrown. “We hope justice will be done,” she said.

If convicted of causing a death by a rash act, Gosling can be jailed for up to five years and fined.

There were 434 cases involving killer litter last year, according to police. This is a slight decrease from the previous year’s number of 455, and down from 2016’s figure of 479. No fatalities were reported in these cases, said the police.

Last year, the National Environment Agency took action on more than 1,200 cases of high-rise littering, and cameras were deployed in more than 1,000 areas with a persistent high-rise littering problem.

The last fatal killer litter incident reported was in 2014 when retiree Mahani Abdullah, 67, died after a bicycle wheel hit her head as she was walking near Block 1, Eunos Crescent.

A youth, who was then 16 years old, admitted to his role in the incident and was sentenced to three years’ probation in 2015.

- Additional reporting by Cara Wong