Man scalded employee who had affair with wife

Furious after catching his wife and his employee having an affair, Han Bo, 44, took a chopper from the kitchen of his flat to threaten the man, and then splashed hot water on him.

On Thursday, he was sentenced to nine months' jail after pleading guilty to one count of causing grievous hurt, with another of criminal intimidation taken into account.

Han, a Chinese national who is now a Singapore permanent resident, had his own business as a fruit distributor and employed a Malaysian, Mr Kan Chee Wai, 22, as a delivery driver.

Last May, he found his wife, Ms Lesley Sea Lay Syn, 41, and Mr Kan in the master bedroom of his flat, and accused them of having an affair.

The three went to the living room to talk. While they talked, Han became angry and went to the kitchen to get a chopper and a knife, which he put in his back pocket.

The prosecution said Han pointed the chopper at Mr Kan and threatened to cause grievous hurt to him, shouting that he wanted him to die.

Han then put the chopper and knife down, grabbed a kettle of hot water and splashed it on Mr Kan's face, neck, and arm. Some of the water also went into his left eye.

Mr Kan was taken to the hospital with burn wounds involving about 7 per cent of his body.

He was hospitalised for four days and given 45 days' medical leave.

He did not sustain permanent damage to his eyesight but his medical costs amounted to more than $9,000.

In mitigation, Han's lawyer, Mr Foo Ho Chew, asked for not more than six months' jail, saying his client and wife had been happily married before the affair, and have two young daughters.

As his wife was from a rather well-to-do family, Han felt the pressure to work hard to prove himself and invested time, effort and money in his family.

To support them, he did not return home to China for 10 years and did so only in 2017 after having hired Mr Kan in 2015.

When he returned to Singapore after several months, his wife acted coldly towards him.

His daughters asked him if he did not love their mother any more as "mummy and uncle are always together and would kiss goodbye every time".

He said Ms Sea told him she wanted to take their daughters, aged eight and nine, to Hong Kong for a holiday, but he later found out Mr Kan had also gone with them.

In his version of events, Han said he was sleeping in another bedroom when he heard noises coming from the master bedroom.

He then caught his wife and the victim coming out of the bedroom together.

His wedding photo and family photos were also torn and strewn all over the bedroom.

Han became depressed after finding out the victim was about two decades younger than his wife.

He offered Mr Kan money to leave his family alone, but his wife said she wanted to divorce him and offered him money to return to China instead, he said.

Mr Foo also said Han felt guilty after the incident and wanted to turn himself in, but was called up by the police before he could do so.