Updated: 09/30/2013 16:26 | By Channel NewsAsia
Transsexual pleads guilty to vicious attack on lover
SINGAPORE: After a quarrel, William Hanz De Veyra Arriesgado went to his lover's apartment and attacked him with a knife, a pair of scissors, and a metal fork.
The 25-year-old Filipino national pleaded guilty in a district court on Monday to voluntarily causing grievous hurt to Australian expatriate Colin James Peady. Arriesgado has undergone a sex-change operation and is now living as a woman.
The court heard that Arriesgado and Mr Peady, 47, were in a romantic relationship and were living together in Mr Peady's apartment in Upper Changi Road.
Arriesgado was on a social visit pass at the time.
A quarrel broke out between the two on February 26, 2012, at a pub in Duxton Road.
Mr Peady then left and went back to his apartment alone, where he smashed a crucifix belonging to Arriesgado and locked the metal gate to prevent him from entering. Sometime later, Arriesgado returned to the apartment but could not enter as he had not brought his keys along.
He then stood outside, shouting, banging on the door, and rattling the gate to get Mr Peady to let him in.
Mr Peady eventually relented, and the argument between the pair continued as Arriesgado entered the apartment.
The court heard that Arriesgado then went into the master bedroom and took a knife with a 20cm-long blade, which he used to stab Mr Peady in the abdomen.
A struggle ensued, and Mr Peady was stabbed at least two more times in the abdomen, and slashed on his head, torso and left forearm.
Mr Peady then staggered out of the unit and went to the lift lobby, but Arriesgado came after him, this time with a pair of kitchen scissors and a metal fork he had taken from the kitchen. He used these to stab and slash Mr Peady on the back several times.
Mr Peady managed to escape by entering the lift and heading to the ground floor. However, Arriesgado continued to pursue him.
When he saw Mr Peady slumped on the ground at the lift lobby, he slashed him several times on the face with the metal fork.
Another struggle between the pair broke out, with Mr Peady sustaining more injuries.
Arriesgado later left the scene and went to a cousin's flat in Tampines.
He was later arrested by police.
In all, Mr Peady suffered lacerations on his head, abdomen left forearm and back, as well as injuries to his eyes and chest.
In asking for at least a two-year jail term to be imposed on Arriesgado, Assistant Public Prosecutor Dillon Kok said that there were a number of aggravating factors in this case, such as the fact that Arriesgado armed himself with not one but three weapons, and the attacks were "brutal, relentless, and sustained".
He added that Arriesgado's reaction was totally disproportionate to the circumstances.
"The accused reacted to a lovers' tiff with extreme violence and this cannot be condoned," he said. He added that the prosecutuon is not pressing for caning to be imposed.
Arriesgado will be back in court on October 17 for his mitigation plea to be heard.
He could be jailed up to 10 years, and fined or caned. - CNA/ac
