SINGAPORE: What was to be a joyous celebration of his new job and the new year turned grim when a private-hire driver punched a coffee shop assistant after a night out at a karaoke lounge.
The 38-year-old Vietnamese man fell backwards and hit his head on the floor, sustaining skull fractures and brain injuries. He was taken to hospital where he died a few days later.
The aggressor, 55-year-old Singaporean Eng Chee Hong, pleaded guilty on Wednesday (Oct 9) to one count each of causing hurt where the hurt turned out to be grievous, and drink driving while on bail for the first offence.
WHAT HAPPENED
The court heard that Eng patronised a coffee shop at Block 318, Jurong East Street 31, where the victim Dao Van Chien worked as a drinks stall assistant.
On Dec 31, 2023, Eng met his friends for dinner at the coffee shop to celebrate New Year’s Eve.
The group, comprising more than 10 people across three tables, were in high spirits and shared food and alcohol.
The victim and his colleague mingled occasionally with patrons at the coffee shop and drank some alcohol with them, but the victim had minimal interaction with Eng.
Eng’s group then decided to head to Jolo KTV in Yuan Ching Road as the coffee shop would close at about 10.30pm.
The victim and his colleague were invited to join the group, and the revelry continued.
Past midnight on Jan 1, 2024, Eng felt that the victim was getting increasingly intoxicated, going on stage to dance and sing and toasting strangers at other tables.
Eng was concerned that the victim’s behaviour might cause “trouble” for his group so he told the victim to return to their table.
The victim complied and tried to appease Eng and shake his hands, but Eng was not interested.
Sometime after 12.30am, Eng and some others left the KTV lounge.
The victim spotted Eng at the walkway outside Sheng Siong Supermarket and said in Mandarin: “Brother, let’s drink alcohol.”
Unhappy with the victim, Eng pointed his finger angrily at the man. As the victim tried to hold Eng’s arm, Eng pushed his hands away and punched his face once.
The force of the blow caused the victim to fall backwards and hit the back of his head on the concrete floor.
Eng saw what happened and looked at the victim for a short while before walking away – this was captured on closed-circuit television footage.
Eng did not check on the victim, instead driving off to meet his friends at Balmoral Plaza for more drinks.
The victim’s colleague saw the man lying on the floor, motionless and bleeding from the mouth. He and another woman helped flip the victim from his back to his front, as the victim was choking on his own blood.
Paramedics arrived shortly after and took the victim to a hospital, but he died of a head injury a few days later on Jan 4.
While Eng was on bail for this offence, he committed an offence of drink driving on Jun 23. Stopped at a police roadblock, he was found to be intoxicated after drinking beer with his friends at a pub in Prinsep Street.
SENTENCING ARGUMENTS
The prosecutor sought three to three-and-a-half years’ jail, a fine of S$3,000 and a driving ban of 24 to 30 months.
She said death was caused prematurely to a young man who was the sole breadwinner to his wife and two children in Vietnam.
Eng also has past convictions from 1994 to 2012, which include attacking public servants, rioting and voluntarily causing hurt.
His past traffic violations include speeding and careless driving from 2020 to 2023.
Lawyers for Eng, Mr Choo Si Sen and Ms Choo Yean Lin from Tan Lee & Partners, asked for a lower jail term.
They said their client turned over a new leaf after being released from prison in November 2017.
A divorcee with a young son, Eng also looks after his terminally ill mother, the lawyers said.
They explained that Eng had gone for drinks at the coffee shop to “celebrate his new career as a Grab driver as well as to usher in the year of 2024”.
Mr Choo said the victim was inebriated and behaving “disruptively” at the karaoke lounge.
The bouncer at the lounge, thinking Eng was friends with the victim, asked Eng to advise the victim accordingly, said the lawyer.
“In order to help the bouncer and (hoping) to maintain peace and order at the karaoke, the accused did speak to and try to dissuade the victim from misbehaving himself,” said Mr Choo.
However, Eng claimed the victim was so intoxicated he could not comprehend Eng’s advice.
The lawyers said Eng felt “annoyed” when the victim tried to “hug” him and punched him on “the spur of the moment”.
They said Eng had left the scene “without knowing” whether the victim suffered a head injury, which led to his demise.
The lawyers said Eng’s past convictions are dated, and that Eng and his own Vietnamese wife helped raise funds for the victim’s family, to pay for funeral expenses.
He will be sentenced tomorrow (Oct 10).
For voluntarily causing hurt where the hurt intended was not grievous but turned out to be so, he could be jailed for up to five years, fined up to S$10,000, or both.
