SINGAPORE - A pair of brothers ganged up to hit their mother's former boyfriend and one even seized the man's mobile phones for his mother to check if he was in contact with other women.
On Monday (March 19), Ng Shiuh Shao, 24, was sentenced to two years' jail, and his brother Shiuh Leong, 23, was given nine months' jail for assaulting Malaysian national Tey Meng Seng.
The court heard that Mr Tey, then a dishwasher, got to know 45-year-old Cindy Lim through Facebook and developed a romantic relationship with her, which ended in December 2015. He went on to date another woman Leong Choi Kuen, 47, and their relationship ended some time before the assault on March 28, 2016.
Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Yang Ziliang said that day, the two women decided to confront Mr Tey about his relationships with them and about "financial issues". It is not known how the women got to know each other.
Lim called her son, Ng Shiuh Shao, and told him that she was going to meet the victim and "needed his help".
Ng was then with his younger brother and their friend, known only as Ashrin. The trio took a taxi to the Shepherds Drive rental unit where Mr Tey was living, to meet the two women.
The three men waited for Mr Tey and rushed towards him when he reached the compound of his rental unit. They pushed him into the compound and hit him with their fists while shouting Hokkien vulgarities at him.
The trio "shared a common intention to cause hurt to the victim", said DPP Yang.
Mr Tey suffered blows to his head, face, chest and arms in the attack which lasted five minutes. At one point, he was also struck repeatedly with a stool, causing injury to his wrist. The elder Ng also took a knife from the victim's kitchen to ask him to hand over his two mobile phones.
Lim and Leong then checked the victim's phones to see if he was in contact with other women. The two women, along with the two brothers and their friend, also took photos of Mr Tey's Malaysian identity card, passport and Singapore work permit.
Mr Tey later found that his phones had been reset, with its data erased. He made a police report on March 30, 2016.
Medical reports showed that Mr Tey suffered several injuries including bruising of the face, eyelid and hand, as well as a fracture of his right wrist. He incurred close to $1,500 in medical fees.
In January, Ng Shiuh Shao pleaded guilty to one count of voluntarily causing grievous hurt while his brother Shiuh Leong did the same to one count of voluntarily causing hurt. Their accomplice Ashrin is still at large.
For voluntarily causing grievous hurt, the older Ng could have been jailed for up to 10 years and fined or caned, while his brother could have been jailed for up to two years with a maximum fine of $5,000 or both. The two brothers both have previous convictions - the older Ng for rioting and affray and his brother for rioting.
The brothers gave compensation to Mr Tey on their accord after their conviction, the Chinese language evening papers reported. Mr Tey reportedly owed the Ngs' mother about $340.
The start of the brothers' jail terms has been pushed back to April 25, the Chinese papers reported, to allow the older Ng to marry his pregnant girlfriend this Saturday before going to jail and for his brother to attend the wedding.
