Three months’ jail for man who splashed hot oil on neighbour’s face
Kho Ah Yeow has been convicted on Jan 6, 2016, to 3 months’ imprisonment. Photo: Singapore Police Force
SINGAPORE — An argument between two neighbours took a violent turn, when Kho Ah Yeow, fuming in the midst of the dispute, returned to his flat, grabbed a metal mug containing hot oil and water, and splashed the contents at his neighbour’s face and body.
In turn, his victim, Bounty Gill, retrieved a knife from his own flat at Jalan Bukit Merah and stabbed Kho’s abdomen area several times.
In what the district judge described as a “somewhat unusual case” where the accused suffered more serious injuries than his victim, Kho, 59, was today (Jan 6) sentenced to three months’ jail for voluntarily causing hurt to Gill by means of a heated substance on June 25 last year.
The court heard that Kho had left his flat that day to buy lunch when he saw Gill, also 59, along the corridor and confronted him, asking why the latter had knocked on his door many times in the morning.
Gill denied doing so and both of them got into an argument. A neighbour saw the pair quarrelling loudly and called the police.
An angry Kho then returned to his flat and took the metal mug containing hot oil and water. He then approached Gill at the corridor and splashed the hot contents in the mug on his neighbour’s face and body.
The victim shouted in pain before he returned to his own unit to retrieve a knife with a 20cm blade, and then used it to stab Kho’s abdomen area a few times.
Gill was hospitalised for a first-degree burn to the left side of his face and some isolated small areas of second-degree burns over his neck and left foot. He was discharged two days later.
Separately, Gill has been charged with voluntarily causing grievous hurt to Kho, and he intends to claim trial.
Taking into account Kho’s condition, Deputy Public Prosecutor Michelle Lu urged the court to impose a three- to five-month jail term on him.
She noted that Kho was the instigator and was the first to return to his flat with the intention to splash hot oil and water after the verbal dispute.
Pleading for a lighter sentence, Kho told the court that his injuries were more severe than Gill’s.
Kho said he had spent two weeks in the intensive care unit and underwent three surgeries. He was hospitalised for about a month.
Despite the injuries sustained by Kho, District Judge Mathew Joseph said the court “cannot condone” what Kho had done, and that his actions were “totally inexcusable”.
An argument, which in this case was with a neighbour, should not be resolved by the use of violence or other forms of assault, the judge added.
Kho could have been jailed up to seven years, fined, caned, or faced any combination of such punishments.
