SINGAPORE — While drinking alcohol in the smoking area of a coffee shop, Leaw Hian Ling’s friend grew annoyed at another man blowing his cigarette smoke in their direction.

A short while later, highly intoxicated and armed with a saw he had just bought for repair works, Leaw slashed the man’s face with it. 

The attack was captured in a video that went viral online and left the victim with a 15cm-long scar.

On Tuesday (Feb 25), Leaw, 52, was sentenced in a district court to a year and two months’ jail. 

He pleaded guilty to one charge of causing hurt to Mr Wang Baoguan, 53, with a cutting instrument on April 3 last year.

He was also ordered to pay Mr Wang S$2,367 in compensation for medical expenses.

The court heard that Leaw and his friend, Mr Chen Chunhou, were drinking at the coffee shop at Lorong 25A Geylang that evening, while Mr Wang was drinking at the next table with a group of people.

Mr Chen got annoyed at the secondhand cigarette smoke and told Mr Wang’s table to stop smoking. When an argument broke out between the two groups, Leaw told his friend that they should leave and he then left the coffee shop. 

He went to a nearby hardware store to buy the 56cm-long saw for his hawker stall and then returned to the coffee shop to look for Mr Chen.

There, he saw Mr Chen arguing with Mr Wang. In a drunken and angry state, Leaw took out the saw from its plastic bag and swung it at Mr Wang, slashing him across the right side of his face.

The victim grabbed the saw and his friends managed to restrain Leaw by holding onto his hands. As he was struggling and wanted to leave, they pinned him down on a table till police officers arrived.

The coffee shop owner, Mr Leong Siew Foong, arrived at the scene after his staff told him about the incident. 

He then picked up an ashtray and hit Leaw on his head with it, causing Leaw to bleed too.

Mr Wang was taken to Tan Tock Seng Hospital in an ambulance. He was given medical leave for 18 days and spent S$2,367 in medical expenses.

Photographs taken last week and in October 2019 showed that the scar was still clearly visible on Mr Wang’s face.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Stephanie Koh sought at least 15 months’ jail for Leaw, saying that he had attacked Mr Chen despite not being involved in the argument himself.

“The accused targeted a vulnerable part of the victim’s body — his face. The saw could easily have injured any number of sensory organs like the victim’s eyes or damaged facial nerves, and it is only fortuitous, and not to the accused’s credit, that it did not,” the prosecutor added.

Leaw was represented by Mr Josephus Tan and Mr Cory Wong from Invictus Law Corporation, who asked for a maximum of one year's jail for their client. 

They argued that Leaw committed the offence on the spur of the moment, as he did not buy the saw to “exact revenge”.

Mr Wang did not suffer any nerve injuries or fractures and his doctor was unable to comment on whether his scar would be permanent as he had defaulted on his follow-up review, the lawyers added.

Leaw could have been jailed up to seven years, fined or both. 

While the offence carries the possibility of caning, offenders above 50 years old cannot be caned by law.