Samurai sword attacker flees court before sentencing

SINGAPORE - He was about to be sentenced yesterday when he asked the judge for yet another adjournment.

But when District Judge Mathew Joseph turned down this request, Abdul Rahman Ibrahim, 64, decided to take matters into his own hands.

When his case resumed in the afternoon, the jobless man was nowhere to be seen.

A warrant of arrest was then issued against Abdul Rahman, who pleaded guilty on Sept 9 to one count each of trespassing and voluntarily causing hurt.

A third charge of being in possession of a weapon will be taken into consideration during sentencing.

He was released from prison in 2011 after serving nine years of preventive detention for drug-related offences.

Preventive detention is reserved for recalcitrant offenders, who must serve the full sentence with no reduction for good behaviour.

Abdul Rahman's long spell behind bars did not stop him from committing more crimes.

On June 6, at around 4pm, he barged into his neighbour's flat at Block 107, Commonwealth Crescent, armed with a chopper and a short samurai sword with a 32-cm blade.

The neighbour, Mr Yun Yew Lee, 41, was lying on a mattress in his living room when Abdul Rahman suddenly appeared and slashed his left forearm with the sword.

He then slashed Mr Yun on his back when the latter tried to turn away.

Abdul Rahman stopped the attack and left the flat when Mr Yun's younger brother rushed out of his room.

The court heard that Abdul Rahman used to be on good terms with Mr Yun and had borrowed money from him. Their relationship soured when he could not repay the loan, believed to be $50.

OFFENDED

Abdul Rahman, who did not have a lawyer, attacked Mr Yun because he felt his neighbour had offended him and wanted to settle the matter.

The court heard that he was arrested on Tuesday for suspected drug consumption.

Assistant Public Prosecutor Lydia Goh told Judge Joseph that he was released on bail to attend yesterday's sentencing.

His younger brother, Mr Yusof Ibrahim, 53, who stood bail for him, had to appear before the judge after Abdul Rahman failed to appear in court yesterday afternoon.

Mr Yusof told the court in Malay that he managed to contact his brother on his phone but he refused to reveal his whereabouts.

The case will be reviewed on March 12 next year.

For voluntarily causing hurt, Abdul Rahman can be jailed up to seven years and fined.

He will escape caning because he is above 50 years old.

ashaffiq@sph.com.sg

This article was first published on Nov 13, 2014.
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