Foreign worker who disfigured flatmate in row over snoring jailed
He was enraged by a flatmate’s heavy snoring as it was disrupting his sleep. To resolve the matter, Wang Peng, a 35-year-old Chinese national, shifted Yu Bo’s bed further from his room.
His action triggered a tussle between the two in which Wang slashed Yu’s face with a chopper, causing the latter to suffer from permanent disfigurement.
On Friday (6 July), Wang was jailed for a year and 10 months on one count of voluntarily causing grievous hurt to Yu, a 36-year-old Chinese national. He was also ordered to be given three strokes of the cane.
Wang and Yu, who shared the flat with two others, worked as bus drivers for SBS Transit. While Wang slept in a bedroom, Yu slept in the living room.
According to court documents, while Yu was away at work on 9 December last year, Wang shifted Yu’s bed due to his flatmate’s snoring.
When Yu returned to the flat after work, he confronted Wang over the bed’s position. Wang, who was having dinner, ignored him.
This prompted Yu to say, “Since you shifted my bed, I will shift your things as well.” He went to Wang’s bedroom to move Wang’s belongings to the living room, resulting in a heated exchange between them.
During the argument, Wang pointed a chopper at Yu. Two other flatmates intervened to calm things down, with one of them placing the chopper back in the kitchen.
However, Yu went to Wang’s bedroom again and tried to move his mattress. Wang followed Yu into the bedroom and pushed him onto the bed. He then threw punches at Yu.
After a while, Wang went to the kitchen to take the chopper, which he used to slash the Yu’s chest, right cheek and head. He also use a piece of shattered glass from a broken bowl to cut Yu’s left shoulder.
The duo eventually stopped fighting due to fatigue. The police and paramedics subsequently arrived at the flat.
Yu, who was admitted to Tan Tock Seng Hospital, was found to have lacerations over his scalp and right cheek, and scratches over his nose and right chest.
A medical report stated that Yu sustained permanent scars on the injured areas and that his face was permanently disfigured.
In mitigation, Wang’s lawyer, Chung Ting Fai, said Yu’s snoring often disrupted Wang’s sleep and that Wang had spoken to Yu several times about the matter. “Despite promising to try and keep his snoring to a minimum, (Yu) subsequently ignored (Wang’s) pleas to minimise his snores,” Chung said.
Wang is a divorcee and the sole breadwinner who financially supports his elderly parents and nine-year-old daughter, said the lawyer.
The lawyer sought 12 months’ jail and three strokes of the cane for Wang, while the prosecution sought 24 months’ jail and three strokes. Anyone convicted of voluntarily causing grievous hurt faces up to 10 years and a fine or caning.
