Man punches drunken friend after New Year celebration, causing his death

SINGAPORE – Unhappy with his friend’s drunken behaviour after a night out, a man threw a punch at his friend’s face, causing him to fall backwards and hit his head on the concrete floor.

Instead of helping his friend after the fall, the man walked to his car and drove off to join another group of friends for drinks.

Four days later, the friend died in hospital due to severe head injuries.

On Oct 9, Eng Chee Hong, 55, pleaded guilty to one charge of voluntarily causing hurt, and one charge of driving under the influence of alcohol in a separate incident.

He will be sentenced on Oct 10.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Teo Lu Jia said Eng’s actions were caught on CCTV footage.

In her submissions, she pointed out that Eng had a history of six similar cases of causing hurt to others, among a string of other offences, over a two-decade period.

DPP Teo said the assault in the present case was “wholly unprovoked” as the victim had not presented any hostility towards Eng whatsoever.

Eng had known the victim, Mr Dao Van Chien, 38, as he was a patron of the coffee shop that Mr Chien worked at.

The prosecutor said Eng had gone to the coffee shop in Jurong to meet his friends for dinner on Dec 31, 2023. The group of more than 10 had planned to celebrate New Year’s Eve together.

DPP Teo said Mr Chien, a Vietnamese who was working as a drinks stall assistant at the time, mingled with the group and also consumed alcohol with them.

The group decided to move the celebrations to a karaoke joint near Yuan Ching Road as the coffee shop closed at 10.30pm. Mr Chien was invited to join the celebrations.

The group arrived at the KTV lounge at around 11pm.

Some time past midnight, Eng felt that Mr Chien was becoming increasingly intoxicated, as the Vietnamese man had gone on stage to sing and dance.

Both men left the KTV lounge after 12.30am with two others from their group, with Mr Chien walking ahead of Eng.

The court heard that at this point, Mr Chien wanted to return to the KTV lounge. He came across Eng as he was walking back to the establishment and called out to him by referring to him as a “brother”. Eng saw that Mr Chien was walking unsteadily and knew he was highly intoxicated.

Eng pointed his finger angrily at Mr Chien as he was unhappy with his behaviour. Mr Chien tried to hold on to Eng’s arm, but the latter pushed him away before punching him once in his face.

The force of the punch sent Mr Chien falling backwards, which caused his head to hit the concrete floor. CCTV footage showed Eng looking at Mr Chien for a short while before walking away without helping the victim.

DPP Teo said that around the same time, another patron from the pair’s group was walking towards them and saw Mr Chien lying on the floor with blood coming out of his mouth.

At this point, Eng had driven off to meet another group of friends at Balmoral Plaza to continue drinking.

Mr Chien remained motionless but started to choke on his blood. The patron, who had called for the ambulance, then moved him to a prone position.

Mr Chien was taken to Ng Teng Fong General Hospital and was found to have traumatic brain injuries including fractures in his skull, and bleeding and injury to his brain.

A decision to take him off life support was made on Jan 4, 2024.

In mitigation, Eng informed the court that he had contributed to Mr Chien’s funeral expenses by raising $1,500.

DPP Teo responded that Mr Chien’s employer had paid for the entire funeral. Mr Chien’s family had also declined Eng’s compensation.

In a separate incident, Eng was caught driving under the influence of alcohol while he was out on bail for the first offence.

On June 23, 2024, Eng met his friends in Prinsep Street, where he consumed four glasses of beer in an hour. He then attempted to drive home to Hougang but was stopped at a Traffic Police roadblock.

A breathalyser test revealed he had at least 46 micrograms of alcohol in 100ml of breath, which was above the prescribed limit of 35 micrograms of alcohol in 100ml of breath.