‘Foul play’ in case of man who died after two punches in face

SINGAPORE — Following a dispute, a 53-year-old man was punched twice in the face, causing him to collapse onto the ground where he remained motionless.

Despite efforts to revive him, Tay Eng Soon was later pronounced dead at Tan Tock Seng Hospital, with an autopsy report revealing that he had died because of a brain haemorrhage. 

His alleged assailant, Lim Keow Chye, who fled to Malaysia shortly after the incident, is now wanted by the police, with his name placed on a “stop list”. 

Although the Singapore police have enlisted the help of their Malaysian counterparts, there have not been any credible leads on Lim’s whereabouts.

On Wednesday, close to two years after Tay’s death on July 9, 2015, State Coroner Marvin Bay found that there is “clear, unequivocal evidence” of foul play involved as the injuries that he suffered following the punch-up proved to be fatal.

Court documents showed that on the evening of July 8, 2015, Tay, together with his wife and two friends, were having a meal and drinks at a coffee shop at Block 303 Anchorvale Link in Sengkang. 

Lim, his sister and some friends were also having drinks at the coffee shop at the time.

Footage from a closed-circuit television (CCTV) camera at the coffee shop showed that Lim was seen exchanging words with Tay, a catering safety officer at Singapore Airport Terminal Services, and his group.

Investigations revealed that Lim had an ongoing dispute with Tay and his wife over donations that Tay’s wife had collected for a temple in Thailand. 

Lim had accused them of misusing the money his mother donated. However, Tay had denied any impropriety, and told Lim that a receipt had been issued to his mother by the temple to acknowledge her donation.

After the exchange of words, Lim walked over to Tay, who was seated, grabbed him by the neck and threw two punches at his face, the CCTV footage showed. 

Tay subsequently appeared disoriented and collapsed. 

Lim also later kicked Tay in the stomach while he lay motionless on the ground before being pulled away by one of the men there. Lim then walked away from the coffee shop.

On the way to the hospital, a paramedic used a defibrillator on Tay about five times, but no pulse could be detected. 

He was pronounced dead at the hospital at 12.46am on July 9, 2015.

An autopsy report showed that Tay had suffered a traumatic subarachnoid haemorrhage, which is the bleeding of the area between the brain and the tissues that cover it.

Associate Consultant Forensic Pathologist Lee Chin Thye had told the court that the punches Lim had thrown could have caused the bleeding, which led to Tay having a cardiorespiratory arrest, in which his pulse and breathing stopped.