13 months’ jail for fish farm worker who struck colleague with mallet for walking around nude

SINGAPORE — Upset with his co-worker for walking around the fish farm naked, Saw Paing Soe Thu struck the man on the forehead with a mallet, a stick with a hammer-like head that is used to kill fish.

The 35-year-old Myanmar national was on Tuesday (July 6) jailed for a year and one month. This was after he pleaded guilty to voluntarily causing hurt to Mr Aung Win Htut, who is also from Myanmar, with a dangerous weapon.

The court heard that both men worked at the farm, identified only as No. FC50W, which is situated out at sea near Lim Chu Kang.

The incident happened on April 9.

About a month or two before, Mr Aung Win Htut started walking about in the nude on the premises. Saw Paing Soe Thu told him not to do this but he persisted.

On the day of the incident, Saw Paing Soe Thu was cooking a meal when Mr Aung Win Htut walked over without clothes on after having a shower. 

Deputy Public Prosecutor Bjorn Tan said that when Mr Aung Win Htut approached his co-worker from behind, Saw Paing Soe Thu felt uneasy and told him off for being naked.

After drinking half a bottle of rice wine, Saw Paing Soe Thu took a mallet from the storage area and approached Mr Aung Win Htut, who was on the phone. 

He struck him once on the forehead.

Falling to the ground, Mr Aung Win Htut bled profusely. Court documents did not state if he was dressed at the time.

He did not retaliate and contacted the farm owner, who in turn called the Police Coast Guard at Lim Chu Kang Regional Base.

Workers from a nearby fish farm helped to ferry Mr Aung Win Htut to Lim Chu Kang jetty.

He was then taken to Ng Teng Fong General Hospital in Jurong East. 

He suffered a deep cut on his forehead and a displaced frontal sinus bone fracture, and was discharged three days after the assault. 

He was given about a month of hospitalisation leave.

Saw Paing Soe Thu was later found to have 48mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood, which was less than the prescribed limit for driving is 80mg per 100ml of blood.

He could have been jailed for up to seven years, fined or caned, or received any combination of the three.