Man jailed 12 months for beating up boy, 15, at resort

A man was celebrating his birthday at a chalet when his friends got into a scuffle with another patron.

He rushed to his friends' aid and ended up punching a 15-year-old boy in the face, fracturing his nose.

The boy retreated, but the man pursued and confronted him with a broomstick.

Yesterday, the man, Harvinder Singh Dhillon Balbir Singh, 31, a driver, was jailed for 12 months for voluntarily causing grievous hurt and criminal trespass.

Two other charges of voluntarily causing hurt were taken into consideration.

The cases against two of Harvinder's friends - Mahesh Vejayan, 30, and Muhammad Azmi Abdullah, 26 - are pending.

According to court papers, Harvinder was celebrating his birthday at Goldkist Beach Resort on East Coast Parkway with his family and friends on Aug 30 last year.

The boy was at the resort celebrating a cousin's birthday at that time.

At about 3am the next morning, three of Harvinder's friends - including Mahesh and Muhammad Azmi - began arguing with the boy's friend.

ESCALATE

The dispute escalated and both sides began throwing punches. The boy and his sister tried to break up the scuffle and mediate the heated situation. He told the men they were just celebrating his cousin's birthday.

That was when Harvinder noticed what was happening, and ran towards the group with several unknown men.

Harvinder demanded to know who injured Mahesh, and punched the boy on the nose.

The boy fell and some of the men who accompanied Harvinder began kicking him.

With his sister's help, the boy managed to get up and flee to his chalet.

The men gave chase and entered the boy's chalet through the rear door.

He saw the boy sitting on the floor and kicked him in the face. Harvinder picked up a broomstick and tried to hit the boy, but a 25-year-old female guest shielded him. Harvinder hit her on the ribs with the broomstick.

The assailants left when an unknown older man intervened and stopped the fight.

The boy was taken to Changi General Hospital and found to have a broken nose and injuries to his face. He was given three days' medical leave.

Yesterday, Deputy Public Prosecutor Tan Si En said in her submissions that Harvinder, unprovoked, had led the group in the attack.

Harvinder's lawyer said in mitigation that his client was remorseful and getting married soon.

This article was first published on December 31, 2015.
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