SINGAPORE: A 76-year-old man who splashed a mixture of bleach and water at his friend’s face was jailed for four weeks and fined S$1,000 (US$734) on Thursday (Dec 19).
Lee Ah Cheng also admitted to applying superglue to the padlock of a stranger’s gate, effectively sealing its keyhole and making it unusable.
He pleaded guilty to one charge each of voluntarily causing hurt and mischief, with another charge of mischief considered in sentencing.
According to court records, Lee did not pay the fine and will serve two more days in prison instead.
The court heard that on Oct 2, 2023, Lee went to Yuhua Village Market and Food Centre at about 10pm to meet a friend who was having drinks there.
At some point, the two men got into a dispute, although court documents did not specify what it was about.
Lee took out a 250ml bottle containing a concoction of bleach and water that he had mixed at home.
This mixture was about one-quarter bleach and three-quarters water, Deputy Public Prosecutor Intan Suhaily Abu Bakar said.
Lee poured some of the mixture into a cup containing beer, and splashed this on his 66-year-old friend’s clothes.
He then splashed the remaining mixture in the bottle towards his friend’s face. The liquid made contact with the victim’s face, eyes and clothes.
A fight ensued between the two men, and several members of the public stepped in to separate them. Lee then left and went home.
The victim called the police saying that he had been splashed with a chemical and could not see clearly.
He was taken to a hospital, where he was seen at its emergency department and referred for an ophthalmology consult.
He was diagnosed with a chemical eye injury, and discharged with medication and two days of sick leave.
The victim did not suffer any permanent injuries to his eyes from the incident, the prosecutor said.
SUPERGLUE INCIDENTS
In a separate incident on Jul 10, 2024, Lee went to a public housing block at Jurong East Street 24 to meet a friend.
He was unsure of his friend’s flat number, and wandered around hoping to run into his friend.
At about 10pm, Lee took a lift up the block. When he got out, he saw that the common corridor area outside one of the flats had many cupboards and was messy.
Lee was displeased with the mess in the common area, Ms Intan Suhaily said. He started feeling angry, and thought that the owner of that flat was irresponsible.
He took out the superglue that he kept in his cigarette box and applied it to the padlock on the flat’s gate to seal its keyhole shut. He then went home.
These actions were captured by a closed-circuit television camera from the victim’s house.
Later that night, the 76-year-old victim, who was in the flat, wanted to open the gate to go outside.
But when she tried unlocking the padlock, she found she was unable to insert her key into its keyhole.
The house happened to have a second door, which the victim and her family used to enter and exit the flat instead. Near midnight, the victim made a police report.
The damage to the padlock cost S$30, which Lee restituted to the victim.
He also offended similarly on another occasion on Sep 5, 2023, by applying superglue to two keyholes of a roller shutter at Jurong East Avenue 1, disabling its locking mechanism.
“ANGER MANAGEMENT PROBLEMS”
Ms Intan Suhaily sought a punishment of four to six weeks’ jail and a fine of an amount to be decided by the court.
She pointed to Lee’s prior convictions for violent offences, including for causing hurt by poison, a rash act and causing grievous hurt, while noting that these convictions were dated.
In the case of the sealed padlock, there was a safety risk if the resident were not able to leave the house in an emergency, but it was fortuitous there was a second door, she said.
Lee, who is a part-time cleaner and did not have a lawyer, asked the court to consider that his friend had pushed him at Yuhua Village Market and Food Centre, causing him to fall.
He also acknowledged that he had an “anger management problem” and said he was being treated at the Institute of Mental Health (IMH).
Lee told the judge that he was feeling better after taking daily medication for his “stress and remorse”, and that he knew his actions were wrong.
The prosecutor noted that there was no link drawn between the offences and any condition that Lee had, according to an IMH report.
District Judge Shaiffudin Saruwan noted that bleach is a “very corrosive” substance and that by splashing it at his friend’s face and eyes, Lee could have caused blindness.
The judge added: “I have absolutely no idea why you carry superglue around. It is not something that an ordinary person would have on his body.”
He encouraged Lee, whose family was in court, to continue with his medication and stay out of trouble.
The maximum punishment for voluntarily causing hurt is three years in jail, a S$5,000 fine, or both.
Mischief carries a maximum penalty of two years in jail, a fine, or both.
