Chinese national jailed and caned for attacking HR manager with hammer
He was angry that his human resource manager kept his passport so the machine operator decided to teach his colleague a lesson by attacking him with a hammer.
Chinese national Du Shuxin, 21, was sentenced to nine months’ jail and two strokes of the cane on Tuesday (15 August) on one count of causing hurt to Koh Chong Ming. The incident happened at their company, Yangbum Engineering, in Woodlands earlier this year.
The court heard that on 8 May this year, Du argued with Koh over the return of Du’s passport. Du, who wanted to travel to Malaysia for a vacation, lodged a complaint against his company with the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) over the issue.
Four days later, Koh cancelled Du’s access card with Yangbum. Du, however, managed to return to the company and told Koh there that he needed to show him an MOM document.
During their brief exchange, Du decided to “teach him a lesson”. He took a hammer from a nearby tools cabinet and began assaulting Koh. CCTV footage showed that Du swung the 35cm-hammer at least four times at Koh’s head. Koh shielded his head with his left arm and stumbled. Du continued to attack Koh until he was stopped by his colleagues.
Koh was conveyed to Khoo Teck Puat Hospital where he was assessed to have bruises and swelling on his left palm, a painful finger, and a small fracture on his left hand. He was given 36 days of hospitalisation leave.
The prosecution, represented by Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Chong Kee En, sought for nine months’ jail and caning, arguing that Du had deliberately aimed for the head and that the force used was great. Du had continued to strike at Koh even though he had fallen on the floor, and had only stopped after his colleagues restrained him, the DPP added.
In mitigation, Du told the court that he was having a headache on the day of the incident. For voluntarily causing grievous hurt, Du could have been jailed up to seven years and/or fined and/or caned.news
