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Jun 1, 2011
Foreman jailed for hitting 'trespasser' with hammer
By Khushwant Singh
A FOREMAN armed with a hammer, who attacked a man he mistook as a trespasser in a construction site three years ago, was sentenced to four months in jail on Wednesday.
Leow Choon Hock, 58, had been found guilty and convicted on May 18 of hurting deliveryman Tan Meng Tee, 35, with a potentially deadly weapon. He is appealing against the conviction and sentence.
During the six-day trial early this year, Mr Tan testified that he was driving along Fort Road near East Coast at about 7.30pm on Dec 16, 2008, when he passed by a large construction site and saw people fishing there.
An avid fisherman himself, he parked his lorry and rode into the worksite on a bicycle that he kept at the back of the vehicle. Two security guards waved him in when he sought permission.
He then heard Leow shouting vulgarities at him and demanding he leave the worksite immediately. He was riding towards the gate when he saw Leow driving a pick-up at him in an aggressive manner. He swerved and fell off the bicycle.
He was about to ride away again when he felt a sharp pain on his back and fell to the ground a second time. He saw Leow wielding a hammer and had to parry some of the blows to his face with his hands.
Leow then threatened to bury Tan alive and went to a nearby excavator. Finding it locked, he returned and resumed pounding the hammer on Mr Tan's head. At Tan Tock Seng Hospital, he was treated for cuts, bruises and swellings on his head and hands, receiving a total of four stitches and seven days of medical leave.
Defended by Mr S.K.Kumar, Leow denied being armed with a hammer and said that he had used his walkie-talkie to hit out after Mr Tan seized him in an arm lock, which made it difficult for him to breathe. Leow is out on $10,000 bail.
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