Punch up over paint job lands man in jail
Angry at being told off for dripping paint onto some tiling works, he attacked the two construction workers who scolded him.
Lee Kien Wah assaulted them using a safety helmet, a wooden plank and his bare fists - leaving the two workers with cuts and abrasions.
Yesterday, Lee, 53, was jailed four weeks for two counts of voluntarily causing hurt.
Court papers said Lee was working as a painting supervisor at a construction site at Seletar Road on June 22 last year.
The two construction workers, Mr Uddin Kazi Mezbha, 34, and Mr Hoque Mohammad Amdadul, 26, who are Bangladeshi nationals, were employed by a different company and were carrying out tiling works at the same site.
At about 1.45pm, Mr Uddin told Lee to stop painting because his paint had dirtied the tiles.
Lee refused and the two men argued, then exchanged blows.
Lee first used his safety helmet to hit Mr Uddin's head and the latter used a scraper to hit back.
The fight attracted the attention of Mr Hoque, who used a stick to hit Lee to stop the fight.
Lee punched Mr Hoque in the face.
Mr Uddin tried to defend his colleague by using a stick to fend Lee off.
Lee then picked up a wooden plank to hit Mr Uddin, who managed to grab hold of the plank.
Other workers tried to break up the fight.
RESTRAINED
But a short while later, Lee grabbed another wooden plank and hit Mr Hoque repeatedly with it.
Lee had to be restrained and was arrested when the police arrived.
Mr Uddin and Mr Hoque were taken to Khoo Teck Puat Hospital.
Mr Uddin had cuts and abrasions on his elbow, hand and fingers and his compatriot had swelling on his left arm.
They were given between one and three days' medical leave.
Lee had a 12cm cut on his left cheek, a 4cm cut on his scalp, and abrasions on his shoulder and collarbone area.
For each charge of voluntarily causing hurt, Lee could have been jailed up to two years and fined up to $5,000.
Two other charges were taken into consideration for sentencing.
Get The New Paper on your phone with the free TNP app. Download from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store now