Jailed: Man who chased wife's lover with knife but was hurt by lover's chopper instead
SINGAPORE — When he confronted his wife’s lover, Yao Fei did not expect the other man to have a chopper tucked beneath his shirt.
Yao, who had three knives concealed in a similar manner beneath his own shirt, made the first move with his knife but ended up being violently attacked by Zhou Zhijun.
Yao, a 26-year-old Chinese national, was jailed four months on Wednesday (6 May) after pleading guilty to one count of criminal intimidation. One charge of carrying an offensive weapon in a public place was taken into consideration for sentencing.
Zhou, who pleaded guilty to one count of voluntarily causing hurt with weapons, was sentenced to nine months and two weeks’ jail earlier on 27 March this year for his role in the fight.
Six-month affair culminates in confrontation
Yao’s wife, Cai Ming, also a 26-year-old Chinese national, had been in a six-month affair by the time of the fight. She and her lover, Zhou, were colleagues. The married couple are still together and have no children.
Before the incident on 2 February, Yao had suspected that Cai was having an affair with Zhou and confronted his wife about it. Cai confessed and agreed to arrange a meeting between the two men at Yao’s insistence.
While Zhou was at first hesitant to meet Yao, he was eventually persuaded as Cai told him it would be an “amicable meeting”, said the prosecution.
However Zhou still feared that Yao would attack him, and brought a chopper to the meeting, hiding it underneath his clothes.
Unbeknownst to Zhou, Yao had also brought a kitchen knife and two fruit knives to the meeting, also hiding them beneath his clothes.
Violent actions at void deck
At about 8.40pm on 2 February, the three met at the void deck of Block 103 Hougang Avenue 1. Upon seeing Zhou, Yao slipped out a knife and charged at him, shouting, “You have ruined a family, (do) you have any conscience?”
He swung the knife at Zhou, who ran towards a nearby car park. While chasing Zhou, Yao tripped and fell, dropping the knife. Zhou immediately picked it up and a scuffle ensued between the two men.
Zhou then took out his chopper and attacked Yao with both the chopper and the knife he had picked up.
Zhou slashed and stabbed at Yao. The altercation only stopped when Cai prevented Yao from chasing Zhou and shouted for her lover to run away.
Committed offence in moment of folly
An unknown caller had alerted the police at about 8.41pm, saying that a woman had been screaming and a man had been seen carrying a chopper around.
Yao was later conveyed to a hospital. His injuries were not revealed in court documents. Zhou suffered mild abrasions from the scuffle and did not need medical attention.
Yao’s lawyer John Koh from Populus Law said that his client had committed the offence in a moment of folly.
“Upon discovery of his Cai’s relationship with Zhou, Yao was shocked and devastated. Out of impulse, he decided to confront the victim. Yao is sorry for his actions and admits that he should not have let his emotions got the better of him,” said the lawyer.
The discovery of his wife’s affair was a huge blow to him and clouded his judgment, added Koh.
The lawyer sought four months’ jail for Yao, noting that Zhou had also attacked Yao instead of fleeing.
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