SINGAPORE: A 62-year-old man who punched another man until his skull fractured was sentenced to 21 weeks in prison on Friday (May 16).
Tan Lai Hin pleaded guilty to voluntarily causing hurt to the 63-year-old victim by punching his face, which caused grievous hurt to him, including a depressed skull fracture.
Tan, who worked as a shop assistant at Golden Horse Dried Seafood Trading along Queen Street, attacked a manager at a neighbouring store on Aug 27, 2022.
At about 4.40pm that day, Tan approached the victim from behind while the latter was tending to customers. He punched the victim’s face twice in front of the customers, then grabbed him by his shirt and pulled him away from the shop to continue punching him.
The customers were concerned for their safety and moved away from the shop, while a male witness tried to intervene. But Tan continued to hold the victim’s shirt and attempted to hit him while the latter tried to block the attack with his hand.
The neighbouring store is operated by the victim’s parents, and his mother ran over when she saw her son being attacked. While trying to stop Tan, she fell at his feet.
Despite witnessing her fall, Tan continued to pull the victim by his shirt, past his mother who was sprawled on the floor and another witness. The victim’s mother picked herself up and moved towards Tan to stop him, and another female witness also intervened.
Tan stopped punching the victim shortly after that, the court heard.
The police were called at about 5pm, and paramedics arrived about 15 minutes later. After being examined by the paramedics, the victim was sent to Raffles Hospital for medical attention, where he was found to have suffered a 3cm-long laceration on his forehead and bruising.
The laceration later required seven stitches. A CT scan on the same day found a depressed skull fracture and traumatic subarachnoid haemorrhage – or bleeding in the space between his brain and the membrane that covers it.
A subsequent CT scan found that the depressed fracture fragments were causing a “mild mass effect” on the brain tissue underneath and bruising on the victim’s right frontal lobe.
He was discharged two days after he was attacked and given 10 days of medical leave. Tan’s attacks left him with a permanent scar that was 3.5cm long, despite scar revision surgeries.
The 63-year-old said in his victim impact statement that he now wears a cap to cover the scar when he goes out. He is afraid of going to his parents’ shop out of fear of seeing Tan and has had nightmares of being attacked, the court heard.
The victim has paid S$4,637.40 (US$3,577) out of his own pocket so far, while Tan voluntarily compensated S$700 to him in February.
In making her decision, District Judge Janet Wang noted that the victim suffered psychological harm and that he was traumatised by the event.
“The use of violence in a public place ought to be deterred. It was fortuitous that no other member of the public was hurt,” she said, noting that the risk of potential harm was relevant to her decision.
“Mainly that the other members of the public walking along the narrow corridor could’ve been hurt as a result of the accused’s actions.”
For voluntarily causing hurt resulting in grievous hurt, Tan could have been jailed for up to five years, fined up to S$10,000 or both.
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Tan Lai Hin pleaded guilty to voluntarily causing hurt to the 63-year-old victim by punching his face, which caused grievous hurt to him, including a depressed skull fracture.
Tan, who worked as a shop assistant at Golden Horse Dried Seafood Trading along Queen Street, attacked a manager at a neighbouring store on Aug 27, 2022.
At about 4.40pm that day, Tan approached the victim from behind while the latter was tending to customers. He punched the victim’s face twice in front of the customers, then grabbed him by his shirt and pulled him away from the shop to continue punching him.
The customers were concerned for their safety and moved away from the shop, while a male witness tried to intervene. But Tan continued to hold the victim’s shirt and attempted to hit him while the latter tried to block the attack with his hand.
The neighbouring store is operated by the victim’s parents, and his mother ran over when she saw her son being attacked. While trying to stop Tan, she fell at his feet.
Despite witnessing her fall, Tan continued to pull the victim by his shirt, past his mother who was sprawled on the floor and another witness. The victim’s mother picked herself up and moved towards Tan to stop him, and another female witness also intervened.
Tan stopped punching the victim shortly after that, the court heard.
The police were called at about 5pm, and paramedics arrived about 15 minutes later. After being examined by the paramedics, the victim was sent to Raffles Hospital for medical attention, where he was found to have suffered a 3cm-long laceration on his forehead and bruising.
The laceration later required seven stitches. A CT scan on the same day found a depressed skull fracture and traumatic subarachnoid haemorrhage – or bleeding in the space between his brain and the membrane that covers it.
A subsequent CT scan found that the depressed fracture fragments were causing a “mild mass effect” on the brain tissue underneath and bruising on the victim’s right frontal lobe.
He was discharged two days after he was attacked and given 10 days of medical leave. Tan’s attacks left him with a permanent scar that was 3.5cm long, despite scar revision surgeries.
The 63-year-old said in his victim impact statement that he now wears a cap to cover the scar when he goes out. He is afraid of going to his parents’ shop out of fear of seeing Tan and has had nightmares of being attacked, the court heard.
The victim has paid S$4,637.40 (US$3,577) out of his own pocket so far, while Tan voluntarily compensated S$700 to him in February.
In making her decision, District Judge Janet Wang noted that the victim suffered psychological harm and that he was traumatised by the event.
“The use of violence in a public place ought to be deterred. It was fortuitous that no other member of the public was hurt,” she said, noting that the risk of potential harm was relevant to her decision.
“Mainly that the other members of the public walking along the narrow corridor could’ve been hurt as a result of the accused’s actions.”
For voluntarily causing hurt resulting in grievous hurt, Tan could have been jailed for up to five years, fined up to S$10,000 or both.
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