SINGAPORE: An 81-year-old man who attacked his neighbour with a metal pole, causing an eye injury, was jailed for seven weeks on Friday (Dec 6).
Chua Lye earlier contested the charge, but changed his plea and admitted to one count of voluntarily causing hurt on the first day of the trial.
The court previously heard that on Apr 8, 2023, Chua walked out of his flat holding a metal pole.
That morning, he saw the victim, Chan Boon Hee, and decided to confront his 67-year-old neighbour over an incident that happened about a week earlier on Apr 1.
In that earlier incident, Chua had purportedly heard Mr Chan shouting vulgarities while he was walking past the younger man's flat.
Holding the metal pole, Chua approached Mr Chan and demanded an explanation. Mr Chan denied that the vulgarities were directed at Chua or his mother.
Chua then forcefully thrust the end of the pole at Mr Chan's right eye.
Mr Chan called the police saying that his eye was injured and bleeding. When the police arrived, they arrested Chua.
The victim was taken to the hospital, where swelling and a cut of about 1.2cm by 1.2cm was found on his right eye.
He was diagnosed with injury to his right eyeball, with a conjunctival tear, and received treatment.
Mr Chan was later transferred to the Singapore National Eye Centre, where he received a cataract operation and a lens implant.
He also suffered temporary loss of vision in his right eye, which had mostly recovered by Jun 8, 2023.
In total, he was warded for three days and received 21 days of hospitalisation leave.
Asking for eight to nine weeks in jail, the prosecutor argued that Chua could not claim he was responding to any "provocation" from the victim.
This was because about a week had passed since the purported incident during which Chua heard vulgarities.
Noting Chua's advanced age, the prosecutor also said there was no evidence he had any condition that would cause him to suffer disproportionately in jail compared to a typical offender.
He also said that Chua would be compensating Mr Chan almost S$1,300 (US$970) for his medical expenses.
The punishment for voluntarily causing hurt is a jail term of up to three years, a fine of up to S$5,000 or both.
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Chua Lye earlier contested the charge, but changed his plea and admitted to one count of voluntarily causing hurt on the first day of the trial.
The court previously heard that on Apr 8, 2023, Chua walked out of his flat holding a metal pole.
That morning, he saw the victim, Chan Boon Hee, and decided to confront his 67-year-old neighbour over an incident that happened about a week earlier on Apr 1.
In that earlier incident, Chua had purportedly heard Mr Chan shouting vulgarities while he was walking past the younger man's flat.
Holding the metal pole, Chua approached Mr Chan and demanded an explanation. Mr Chan denied that the vulgarities were directed at Chua or his mother.
Chua then forcefully thrust the end of the pole at Mr Chan's right eye.
Mr Chan called the police saying that his eye was injured and bleeding. When the police arrived, they arrested Chua.
The victim was taken to the hospital, where swelling and a cut of about 1.2cm by 1.2cm was found on his right eye.
He was diagnosed with injury to his right eyeball, with a conjunctival tear, and received treatment.
Mr Chan was later transferred to the Singapore National Eye Centre, where he received a cataract operation and a lens implant.
He also suffered temporary loss of vision in his right eye, which had mostly recovered by Jun 8, 2023.
In total, he was warded for three days and received 21 days of hospitalisation leave.
Asking for eight to nine weeks in jail, the prosecutor argued that Chua could not claim he was responding to any "provocation" from the victim.
This was because about a week had passed since the purported incident during which Chua heard vulgarities.
Noting Chua's advanced age, the prosecutor also said there was no evidence he had any condition that would cause him to suffer disproportionately in jail compared to a typical offender.
He also said that Chua would be compensating Mr Chan almost S$1,300 (US$970) for his medical expenses.
The punishment for voluntarily causing hurt is a jail term of up to three years, a fine of up to S$5,000 or both.
Continue reading...