Man fined for pushing colleague in self-defence, causing victim to fracture skull in fall

SINGAPORE - In a move to defend himself, a delivery driver pushed his colleague who was throwing punches at him, causing the latter to fall to the ground and fracture his skull.

The attacker, Mr Ang Peng Hong, 62, later died of bleeding in the brain but a district court heard on Friday (July 19) that this was not related to the fall and was due to a disease.

Lim Kian Seng, also 62, who had pushed him, pleaded guilty to causing hurt to Mr Ang by performing a negligent act and was fined the maximum $2,500.

The two Singaporean men were both delivery drivers working for Dawn Shipping and Transport.

Lim, who drove a pick-up truck, was based at Jurong Port and his duties included loading imported consignments onto the firm's delivery lorries.

At around 9am on Sept 22 last year, he made arrangements with Mr Ang to load some imported goods for delivery in Singapore.

These were loaded onto Mr Ang's lorry about an hour later and the men drove their respective vehicles to the customs clearance area near the exit of the port.

At around 11.30am, a Customs officer told Mr Ang to return to Jurong Port to get the goods scanned for clearance.

As a result, he had to drive out of the area, make a U-turn and stop just before the entrance into Jurong Port to wait for Lim.

Lim stopped his pick-up truck behind Mr Ang's lorry soon after and asked his colleague why he had made the U-turn.

The two men then started quarrelling, which escalated when Mr Ang raised his fists and challenged Lim to a fight.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Asoka Markandu said Mr Ang moved towards Lim and started throwing punches at him. Lim raised his arms to fend off the blows and forcefully shoved his attacker's hands away.

As a result, Mr Ang fell backwards and lost consciousness when his head hit the ground. He came to soon after and the two men walked back to their vehicles.

However, one of their colleagues, who had entered Mr Ang's lorry, noticed that he was bleeding from his nose and alerted Lim.

Lim then arranged for a replacement driver for Mr Ang, who was feeling dizzy, and drove him to the National University Hospital.

Mr Ang was admitted that day and a CT scan revealed that he had a fractured skull.

He died on Oct 19 last year. His autopsy report stated that he died from an "acute intracerebral haemorrhage".

Pressing for a fine of $2,500, DPP Asoka told District Judge Kan Shuk Weng that Mr Ang was the aggressor in this case.

Defence lawyer Yeo Ying Hao, who pleaded for a $2,000 fine, said his client is the family's sole breadwinner and would most likely lose his job due to this case.

The lawyer added that Lim had acted out of character and committed the offence on the spur of the moment.

For causing hurt by performing a negligent act, he could have been jailed for up to six months and fined up to $2,500.