Tanglin Halt fish soup stall owner gets jail after attacking rival, fracturing his skull, hand and wrist

SINGAPORE: A fish soup stall owner who assaulted a rival from the same food centre with a pole that had a protruding nail was sentenced to 16 months' jail on Thursday (Oct 5). 

Peck Chuan Ann, 71, had earlier pleaded guilty to a charge of voluntarily causing grievous hurt to Punnataro Wee Kai Xin, 50, who suffered a scalp laceration, fractures in his skull, left hand and right wrist as a result of the attack. 

Peck owned a fish soup stall at Tanglin Halt Food Centre at Commonwealth Drive. He had considered Mr Wee, who also had a fish soup stall at the same food centre, to be his rival. 

Both men previously had disagreements but they were not detailed in court documents. 

On Apr 8, 2022, the duo arrived at the food centre within half an hour of each other in the morning. 

While walking past Peck after buying a drink at about 7am, Mr Wee looked at Peck and uttered some words before returning to his stall. Court documents did not reveal what was said. 

About 15 minutes later, Peck went to the wash basin area where he saw a wooden pole. After checking for passers-by and seeing none, Peck took the pole, which was about 71cm long and had a nail protruding from one end. 

Closed-circuit television captured Peck picking up the pole, exiting the food centre and then re-entering via a sheltered walkway. He then came up behind Mr Wee, who was seated in front of his stall. 

Using the pole, Peck hit Mr Wee's head multiple times with the end that had the protruding nail. The victim fell to the ground. 

Mr Wee's wife tried to stop Peck, who also attempted to hit her with the pole. The wife eventually managed to grab the pole and disarm Peck with the help of her husband. Peck fled after the scuffle. 

The police was alerted and Mr Wee was taken to the hospital. He was later assessed to likely have a permanent impairment of his right wrist joint. 

Mr Wee was given 75 days of hospitalisation leave. 

Peck was also injured during the scuffle. He returned to his flat before seeking help from his daughter, who convinced him to surrender to the police. 

For voluntarily causing grievous hurt, Peck could have been jailed up to 10 years and fined. He cannot be caned as he is above 50 years old.