Angry over slow Wi-Fi, tenant pulls knife on landlord then tries to strangle her; gets 5 months' jail

SINGAPORE — Angry over the slow Wi-Fi speed as he played his mobile game after drinking about six cans of beer, Li Xin confronted his landlord. In the escalating disagreement, he pulled a knife on the 61-year-old woman, threatened to kill her entire family and then tried to strangle her.

The 30-year-old China national pleaded guilty on Wednesday (June 21) to one charge of criminal intimidation with the intent to cause death and one charge of causing hurt by choking his landlord's neck.

Li, who was working as a hotel housekeeper at the time, was sentenced to five months' jail.

Two other similar charges were taken into consideration during sentencing.

WHAT HAPPENED

Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Ashley Poh told the court that on the evening of May 16 this year, Li had been drinking and playing a game on his mobile phone while his landlord, Lin Suhua, was in her room with the door closed.

During his game, Li told Madam Lin to get out of her room to tell her about the Wi-Fi speed.

In the ensuing disagreement, he took out from the back of his shorts a knife with a blade measuring 14cm and pulled Mdm Lin into his room where he slammed her onto the bed.

While they were in the room, he put back the knife in the back of his shorts.

Mdm Lin calmed Li down and he then left to speak to another tenant Su Ju.

At this point, Mdm Lin's third tenant Ji Zhaoliang called Li to say he had been waiting for him downstairs for two hours.

Mdm Lin then shouted loudly to ask why Mr Ji did not return home after work and told him to get back quickly.

After Li hung up, he answered Mdm Lin's query about Mr Ji's delay by saying: "Because I told him I will be killing all your family and all of you."

This death threat caused Mdm Lin to fear for her safety since she knew that the knife was in the back of Li's shorts, DPP Poh said.

When Mr Ji arrived home, Mdm Lin told him about her disagreement with Li. She also hinted to Mr Ji that Li had a knife with him.

Agitated by this, Li pushed Mdm Lin onto the bed and started trying to strangle her until Mr Ji intervened and stopped him.

Even after she returned to her room and locked herself inside, Li continued to pound on her door and shout for her to come out.

The incident came to an end when Ms Su's employer arrived and called the police.

Li, who was not represented by a lawyer, asked District Judge Lau Qiuyu to exercise leniency because he had been experiencing anxiety during his remand, anxious about the punishment that would be imposed on him.

He added that Li had been working in Singapore for more than 10 years and had he known about the laws here, he would not have behaved impulsively.

For causing hurt by strangling, Li could have been jailed for up to three years or fined S$5,000, or both.

Anyone guilty of criminal intimidation to cause death can be jailed for up to 10 years or fined, or both.