Thoroughly fed up with his older brother’s attempts to annoy him, a Singaporean man resorted to setting the latter’s bedroom door on fire with a homemade flamethrower.
He also used a chopper to cut his brother’s hand, chest and leg, resulting in him having to undergo reconstructive surgery.
Had a strained relationship with brother
According to The Straits Times (ST), court documents showed that in 2000, the parents of Fock Ming Chai Daniel, 27, divorced. He then lived with his mother in a rental flat, while his brother and sister lived with his father.
It was also revealed that Fock had a “strained relationship” with his brother while they were growing up.
Around last March, Fock stayed with his father and siblings for a time after his mother moved out of the flat.
On June 16, he discovered that his brother had used dental floss on his toothbrush. Angered by the act, Fock made a homemade flamethrower using a lighter and aerosol can before burning the soap holder with it.
SG man burns brother’s door with homemade flamethrower over Wi-Fi
When Fock’s brother saw the burnt soap holder, he got upset and tried to think of a way of annoying Fock into moving out from the house.
He eventually settled on switching off the Wi-Fi when Fock was inside his room at 2pm.
This inevitably triggered Fock, who stormed out of the room armed with the flamethrower and a chopper with a 16cm blade before setting the bottom of his brother’s room door on fire.
When Fock’s brother opened the door after hearing noises, Fock grabbed the chopper and slashed his brother’s right hand. As the siblings continued to scuffle, Fock also injured his brother’s chest and right leg in the process.
Underwent reconstructive surgery & and 40 days of MC
Following the attack, Fock’s brother was rushed to Tan Tock Seng Hospital, where he underwent reconstructive surgery as some of the nerves and arteries in his right hand had been severed.
He was later discharged from the hospital on June 19 and given 40 days of medical leave.
As for Fock, he was arrested by police on June 17 but was later released on bail the same day.
A doctor from the Institute of Mental Health (IMH) who examined Fock opined that he had underwent an adjustment reaction, which refers to an excessive reaction to stress.
Pleaded guilty in court
On Tuesday (Sept 3), Fock pleaded guilty to one charge of voluntarily causing hurt with a dangerous weapon.
Two charges of mischief by fire was also brought against him, which will be taken into consideration for sentencing.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Colin Ng requested the court to sentence Fock to 16 to 18 months in jail, arguing that he had committed “an offence of domestic violence” against his brother while living together.
Fock’s defense lawyer, Sean Tan, countered by saying that his client suffered an abusive childhood, where he was often tormented by his brother and fell into depression as a result.
The victim was the one who abused my client. The victim was trying to agitate my client on the day of the incident. He was deliberately trying to annoy my client out of the house.”
Fock is scheduled to know his fate when he’s sentenced on Sept 19.
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