Man gets 13 days' jail for using kerosene to set fire to neighbour's door over prayer altar dispute
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- Patrick Francis, 50, was sentenced to 13 days' jail for one charge of committing mischief
- He had set the door of his neighbour's HDB flat on fire
- Francis was angered by a dispute regarding a prayer altar that his neighbour had placed near his mother's unit
BY
CHARLENE GOH
Published August 10, 2023Updated August 10, 2023
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SINGAPORE — Upset that his neighbour confronted his mother over a prayer altar that she had been looking after on behalf of the neighbour, Patrick Francis, 50, retaliated by pouring a bottle of kerosene at the front door of the victim's flat before setting it on fire.
The door, the nearby walls, ceiling and other miscellaneous items were damaged by the fire. No one was injured.
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In court on Thursday (Aug 10), Francis was sentenced to 13 days' jail after pleading guilty to one charge of committing mischief.
The court heard that Francis' 76-year-old mother, Ms Marina Pereira Francis John Pereira, was living at a Housing and Development Board (HDB) unit on the first floor at the time. Court documents did not state its location.
The victim, Mr Dharam R D, 63, lived together with his girlfriend Ms Tang Yee Peng, 50 on another floor of the same block.
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Deputy Public Prosecutor John Lu said the four of them have known one another for about six years before the incident.
WHAT HAPPENED
As part of her religious rites, Ms Tang requested for a small space at Ms Pereira’s unit to place a Chinese prayer altar. Francis and his family agreed with the arrangement.ADVERTISEMENT
The court heard that this arrangement continued until Ms Tang had to return to Malaysia when the Covid-19 pandemic struck in 2020.
During Ms Tang’s absence, the Francis' family continued to maintain the prayer altar until she returned on May 7 in 2022.
However, Ms Tang noticed that the lock on the prayer altar had been changed. She then confronted Francis’ mother about this, which angered her son.
The next day at around 12am, Francis and his mother went to Ms Tang’s home. He knocked on the door and started shouting in Tamil.
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But the couple did not open the door and only looked at him through the peephole, said DPP Lu.
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A short while later, the older lady left the unit and returned home as she was tired.
Frustrated by the lack of response, Francis went down to the first floor of the block and walked to the refuse chute next to his mother’s unit.
He picked up a brown glass bottle filled with kerosene and returned to Tang’s flat. Then, he poured the liquid over the doorstep of their unit, took out a lighter and set the main door ablaze.
After he was done, he left and discarded the bottle at a nearby grass patch.
Noticing the fire from inside the flat, Mr Dharam immediately called the police, who managed to put out the fire upon their arrival.
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DAMAGE TO FLAT
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DPP Lu said that the lower section of the door and an umbrella were directly damaged by the fire.
The lower section of the main gate, floor tiles, the interior of the main door, walls, ceiling and other miscellaneous items within the vicinity of the main door also sustained varying degrees of heat and smoke damage, he said.
Francis later made a S$1,000 compensation to Mr Dharam on July 18.
Addressing the court, DPP Lu said that it was "entirely fortuitous" that the police put out the fire before matters got worse.
"The accused’s act of arson could have easily gotten out of control and caused incalculable damage to not just the unit, but the entire block," he said.
He sought a sentence of between three and four weeks' jail.
However, the man’s lawyer, Mr Divanan Narkunan of Phoenix Law Corporation, argued that the actual harm caused was low.
He added that when Ms Tang confronted Francis’ mother, “certain profanities” were thrown at the older woman, which was the reason behind Francis’ anger.
The couple had also promised to apologise to the older lady but despite these assurances, an apology was not made, said Mr Divanan.
For committing mischief, Francis could have been jailed up to two years, fined, or both.
