Attack with decanter left victim disfigured

Attack with decanter left victim disfigured

A sales executive hit a nightclub patron so hard with a plastic decanter that it broke into pieces and disfigured the man's nose permanently.

It happened last year at Mandopop club Shanghai Dolly in Clarke Quay.

Yesterday, Desmond Koh Wee Boon, 29, was jailed six weeks for causing hurt to Mr Tan Soon Tiang, 37, an assistant operations manager.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Kavita Uthrapathy told the court that Mr Tan had left his three friends, including two women, at a table to speak to someone he knew at another table.

Near the trio was Koh's group.

Koh then walked over and chatted up the women.

One of them, Ms Lim Siew Ping, 32, offered him some of her drink. He then asked the women for their phone numbers and if they had a boyfriend.

At this point, Ms Lim pulled Mr Tan to her side and told Koh Mr Tan was her boyfriend to deter his advances.

Koh then picked up a decanter from a nearby table and hit Mr Tan on the face with it.

Police arrested him, while Mr Tan was taken to hospital.

The victim also suffered a 0.5cm-long cut to his fractured nose.

Ms Uthrapathy, seeking a six- to eight-month jail sentence, said the attack was unprovoked.

Koh's lawyer, Mr Edmund Wong, told the court earlier his client committed the offence in a moment of anger when Mr Tan accused him of talking to the two women, whom he said were his girlfriends, without his permission.

Mr Tan had also rejected Koh's offer of $1,000 in compensation, Mr Wong said.

Koh could have been jailed for up to two years and/or fined up to $5,000 for the offence.

elena@sph.com.sg


This article was first published on July 16, 2014.
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