Transgender's quarrel with Aussie boyfriend turns violent

SINGAPORE - A Filipino transgender pleaded guilty in court on Monday for voluntarily causing grievous hurt.

Behind that terse legal description lies a tale of love and violence. Australian Peady Colin James and William Hanz De Veyra Arriesgado (left) were in a romantic relationship.

Mr James' Facebook status even read "engaged".

But things went very wrong and very violent after the two quarrelled at a Duxton Road pub on Feb 26 last year. It led to Mr James being attacked viciously by Arriesgado in his condo, not once, but thrice in three different locations with three different items.

After the quarrel, Mr James, 47, headed back to his rented Sunhaven condominium in Changi alone.

When he reached home, he changed his Facebook status from "engaged" to "single", smashed a crucifix belonging to Arriesgado, 25, and locked the metal gate.

When Arriesgado, who was on a social visit pass then, arrived at the unit later, he found himself locked out as he did not bring his keys along.

He phoned his sister and told her to bring a set of spare keys, before banging on the door, rattling the gate and shouting for Mr James to open the door.

Mr James eventually relented.

Arriesgado then entered the unit and the pair proceeded into the master bedroom, where they started arguing again.

The heated exchange then became violent as Arriesgado grabbed a knife with a 20cm-long blade, which was on the bedroom console, and stabbed his ex-lover in the stomach.

The pair struggled and Mr James was stabbed twice more and slashed on his head, body and left arm.

But Arriesgado wasn't done.

As Mr James staggered out of the unit, Arriesgado went into the kitchen and grabbed a pair of kitchen scissors and a metal fork.

He then gave chase and found Mr James at the lift landing, where he slashed his back with the scissors and fork several times.

Despite being wounded, Mr James managed to wrestle the scissors from Arriesgado before escaping, albeit momentarily, in a lift to the third floor, hoping to throw him off his track.

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He then took another lift to the ground floor.

As he staggered out of the lift, he tried to lean against a wall for balance, but slumped onto the ground.

When Arriesgado found him later, he bent over the injured Mr James and slashed his face several times with his last weapon - the fork.

Another struggle broke out as Mr James grappled Arriesgado to the ground, but was slashed yet again on the face and torso.

Arriesgado then got up and headed for the condominium's porch, where his sister had just arrived in a taxi.

On seeing his torn and bloodied dress, his sister ushered him into the vehicle and directed the taxi to their cousin's flat at Tampines, where he had a shower and changed his clothes.

Meanwhile, police received a call and were told: "Someone is stabbing someone. Come now."

They then tracked down Arriesgado through the taxi driver and arrested him.

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The court also heard that Mr James suffered injuries to his head, back, left arm and eyes.

After an initial period of hospitalisation, he was granted 67 days of hospitalisation leave.

On Monday, Arriesgado, who is on bail, appeared in court in a pink top and pants.

He remained emotionless when he pleaded guilty.

Arriesgado's defence asked for time to prepare a mitigation plea and he is scheduled to be back in court on Oct 17 for sentencing.

The prosecution has asked for Arriesgado not to be caned, but he faces up to 10 years' jail.

rloh@sph.com.sg

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