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Chinese national who assaulted man with broken beer bottle jailed 6 months

Singapore state courts (Yahoo News Singapore file photo)
Singapore state courts (Yahoo News Singapore file photo)

A Chinese national who assaulted a man with a broken beer bottle last August was jailed six months on Tuesday (22 May).

Huang Jinsong, 44, pleaded guilty at the State Courts to one charge of causing hurt with a weapon that is likely to cause death.

Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Jason Chua told the court that Huang had been drinking with Ren Hailong, 33, and Yan Jiatao, 36, at a coffeeshop at Lorong 21 in Geylang on the night of 22 August. Shortly after midnight, Huang and Ren got into an argument with Yan.

Ren punched Yan in the head, causing the latter to fall. Meanwhile, Huang had grabbed an empty beer bottle from a nearby rubbish bin and used it to hit Yan’s head, breaking the bottle in the process.

Huang continued to attack Yan with the broken bottle, lacerating Yan’s left thigh. Yan eventually managed to escape from his assailants.

DPP Chua asked for at least six months’ jail for Huang stating that Yan had already fallen when Huang hit him. He added that a beer bottle is also weapon that can cause death.

In passing Huang’s sentence, District Judge Jasvender Kaur noted that Huang had used a weapon to hit Yan on the head, which is a “vulnerable” part of the body. Furthermore, he continued his attack with a broken bottle.

For his actions, Huang could have been jailed up to seven years, fined and/or caned

For his role in the assault, Ren was fined $2,500 after pleading guilty to one charge of voluntarily causing hurt.

Defence counsel Wong Jieh said in mitigation that Ren “did not participate” in the assault “beyond the first punch”.

He had also requested for a fine on compassionate grounds. Any period of jail term would likely result in Ren losing his foreign employment status in Singapore and would his family in China who depended on his income, said Wong.

For his actions, Ren could have been fined up to $5,000, jailed up to two years, or both.