Upset at seeing his wife's boyfriend at an open-air carpark near her home, an interior designer went to her flat, took a knife and attacked the man.
Mathew Chua Kun Leong, 28, was unhappy that the victim, Mr James Loh Jiajun, 27, was romantically involved with his wife, Ms Tan Choon Ting, 30, court documents showed. Chua and Ms Tan are going through divorce proceedings.
Yesterday, Chua was sentenced to five months' jail for causing hurt to Mr Loh by slashing him repeatedly at the carpark in front of Block 32, Jalan Bahagia, between 11pm and 11.23pm on Dec 11 last year.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Kong Kuek Foo said the incident happened after Chua had visited his wife and both had then gone nearby to have alcoholic drinks.
The two were heading back to her home when Chua saw Mr Loh sitting in a car about 20m away in front of Ms Tan's flat, which is on the ground level.
He told his wife that he was going to the washroom and would be back. He went to get the knife, which had an 18cm-long blade, from the kitchen of Ms Tan's home before confronting the victim and starting an argument.
Ms Tan then stood between Mr Loh and her husband, and tried to stop the row.
At this point, Ms Tan's sister, who was at home, saw Chua holding the knife behind his back.
During the argument, Mr Loh pushed Chua's hand away and a scuffle broke out.
Chua swung the knife at Mr Loh, slashing him in several places. Mr Loh suffered cuts.
Seeing this from the flat, Ms Tan's sister woke up their stepfather and told the 46-year-old what had happened.
The stepfather rushed to the carpark to intervene and snatched the knife away from Chua.
Mr Loh was given 17 days of hospitalisation leave. He suffered a 5cm-deep cut on his right upper arm, and had two superficial cuts on his chest and neck.
Chua, who has care and custody of the couple's three young children, was allowed by the court to start his sentence on Aug 7.
He could have been jailed for up to two years and/or fined up to $5,000 for causing hurt.
Elena Chong