One of the two men accused of assaulting Mr Shawn Ignatius Rodrigues, leading to his death in July 2016, said that he had intended to apprehend him and hand him over to the police.

This was because Mr Rodrigues had not been arrested by the police even after various police reports on harassment were lodged against him since 2014, the court heard from alleged assailant Ryan Xavier Tay Seet Choong yesterday.

Tay and his stepfather, Lawrence Lim Peck Beng, are on trial for their alleged involvement in the 26-year-old's death.

Tay, 24, is accused of causing grievous hurt to Mr Rodrigues on the day of his death.

The two men had known each other from church, but Tay's family had subsequently lodged multiple police reports against Mr Rodrigues for harassment.

Lim, 58, is accused of aiding Tay by sitting on Mr Rodrigues' buttocks and holding his legs while Tay assaulted him.

The court heard that Mr Rodrigues was at the entrance of Tay's flat in Yishun on July 9, 2016, and was chased down the common corridor by him.

After a scuffle, Tay ended up pinning Mr Rodrigues face down at the end of the corridor. Lim then joined Tay in restraining Mr Rodrigues. Tay allegedly stomped on Mr Rodrigues' shoulder, punched his face and head multiple times, forcefully pushed his face to the ground and pressed his knee on his back for about 20 minutes. This caused him to suffer traumatic asphyxia with a head injury that led to his death.

Yesterday, Tay said he chased Mr Rodrigues as he wanted to detain and deliver him to the police.

He said that he struck Mr Rodrigues while pinning him down to prevent him from struggling.

Disagreeing with Deputy Public Prosecutor Jason Chua's suggestion that his actions that day endangered Mr Rodrigues' life, Tay added that he tilted Mr Rodrigues' head to the side when he noticed blood flowing from his face as he was pinned face down on the floor. "I did not want him to choke on his own blood," Tay said.

The trial continues today, when Tay is expected to continue testifying.