A former churchgoer of Lighthouse Evangelism church who was angry with the church placed Taoist offerings like joss sticks and chicken heads outside the church in Woodlands to create mischief. Diagnosed of delusional disorder by the Institute of Mental Health, Cyrus Teo King Huat, 44, first started his mischief around 23 Sep 2015. The mental patient wrote a letter to the church telling them he had changed his religion and that he had placed the Taoist offerings outside the church on several occasions.
On 2 Oct 2015, church pastor Timothy Tan Soo Chai found three chicken heads, joss sticks and candles in front of the church sign, and three more chicken heads at the church’s side gate. He however did not report the mischief until he found the church’s sign was set ablazed on 13 May 2016. CCTV footages and investigations by the police eventually led to the arrest of the culprit, Cyrus Teo.
The former churchgoer arsonist refused to cooperate with the police investigators and denied requests for photos, blood and fingerprint samples. When hauled up in court, Cyrus Teo did not have a lawyer and was assigned a pro-bono lawyer. In mitigation, his lawyer said Cyrus Teo believed that he was under a curse and burning the church’s sign would lift the curse. The court sentence him to 10 months’ jail for one charge of mischief by fire.