A man jailed for kicking his brother's son-in-law, causing him a fracture of the orbit, News of Justice and Crime

SINGAPORE – A shopkeeper who needed a place to stay and who had room in his brother's apartment in Sembawang paid off his kindness by attacking his brother's son-in-law.

The attack was so vicious that the 13-year-old man had a fracture in the left orbit and partial muscle prolapse near the area.

The 46-year-old man, who could not be named because of a gag order aimed at protecting the identity of the teenager, was jailed on Thursday (29 November) for one year and three months after pleading guilty to causing serious injury to a high school student. .

The court heard that the man lived in the apartment with his brother, the child and his 10 siblings and the mother of the child.

Deputy Attorney General Angela Ang told District Judge Eddy Tham that the storekeeper was responsible for looking after the 11 children during his days off.

On March 20 of this year, he told the boy to warm him some food, but the teenager instead asked his younger sister to do so. The shopkeeper was the only adult in the apartment at the time.

When he learned that the girl was preparing the food, the shopkeeper got angry and kicked the boy two times. The teenager was then sitting on the floor of the living room.

PDP Ang said: "The victim immediately cried.After the attack, the accused returned to his room while the victim was lying on the floor of the living room unit."

After the victim informed of the incident of his mother and stepfather, they confronted the man, but did not report police.

The boy started to vomit around midnight and the next morning. It was then that her mother-in-law spotted her injury.

He told her what had happened and she alerted the police about her son, the shopkeeper.

She also called an ambulance because the boy was still vomiting. The teenager was taken to the hospital for KK women and children.

The court heard that the hospital ophthalmic team was planning to re-examine his case and that if it remained stable, he would not need any additional treatment.

The accused, who was not represented, told the court that the boy had stolen money from him.

Before he was sentenced on Thursday, Tham JA said, "It is unacceptable to release your frustrations with a young child – you could have blinded him."

For having seriously injured his victim, this man could have been sentenced to 10 years imprisonment and a fine or caning.