A former restaurant assistant manager harboured an alleged murderer at his godmother's flat after a fatal attack.

Yesterday, Muhammad Hisham Hassan, 28, was sentenced to 18 months' jail for harbouring Muhammad Khalid Kamarudin, then a 22-year-old part-time mover.

According to court documents, Hisham knew Khalid had murdered Mr Satheesh Kumar Manogaran, 35, near St James Power Station on March 12 last year.

Hisham, Khalid, Shawalludin Sa'adon, 27, Muhammad Faizal Md Jamal, 23, and Mohd Firdaus Abdullah, 20, were all members of a secret society operating from Toa Payoh Central.

The court heard that on March 12, Mr Satheesh was having drinks at Postbar with a group. Shawalludin, a waiter who was working at Postbar, claimed that Mr Satheesh tried to punch him.

Mr Satheesh's friend pulled him back while Shawalludin was told by his superiors to step out of the premises to prevent further misunderstanding.

Aggrieved, Shawalludin called and messaged Hisham to rally members of their gang as "backup" in a fight.

Hisham agreed and headed to Postbar, at Sentosa Gateway. He also messaged all the members of the secret society, telling them Shawalludin was seeking a fight.

Khalid, who had a knife, asked Faizal to accompany him.

When the group arrived at Postbar, Shawalludin pointed out Mr Satheesh and his cousin, Mr Naveen Lal Pillar, 29. The group agreed to hurt the two men.

The court heard Hisham walked away to call his girlfriend when Shawalludin, Khalid and Faizal confronted Mr Satheesh and his cousin as they were about to board a private-hire car. They stabbed, kicked and punched the pair.

When Hisham returned, he saw Mr Satheesh on the ground and Mr Naveen covered in blood.

At about 10am, Hisham told Firdaus to take Khalid and Faizal to his godmother's flat in Yishun.

They turned up with their girlfriends. Faizal left after a while.

At about 8pm the next day, police arrested Hisham, Khalid and Firdaus.

District Judge Marvin Bay told Hisham his act of "sheltering a known figure" for more than 24 hours, under circumstances in which murder had been committed, was a "very grave offence".

A second charge of conspiracy by abetment to cause hurt to Mr Satheesh and Mr Naveen was considered during sentencing. Hisham could have been jailed for up to 10 years and fined on the harbouring charge. The cases against the others are pending.

Elena Chong