Man jailed over revenge attack on footballers who roughed up his nephew during match

• Juraimi Noordin grew angry after learning that one of his nephews was injured in a game
• He searched for the rival players’ photographs on social media and learned of their schedule
• He confronted the players at another game and punched one of them several times on the face

SINGAPORE — After one of his nephews was injured in an amateur football game, Juraimi Noordin hatched a plan to take revenge on the rival players.

He teamed up with several other men, found out his targets were playing at Tampines Secondary School, and went over to assault them. The attack left one of the victims with a chipped front tooth.

Juraimi, now aged 50, was sentenced in a district court to nine months and three weeks’ jail on Monday (Oct 26). 

This includes three months in lieu of caning, as men aged 50 and above cannot be caned under Singapore law.

The crane operator pleaded guilty to voluntarily causing hurt to Mr Mohammed Rasul Razali, 31; causing hurt with common intention to Mr Muhammad Aniq Rosli, 33; and having an offensive weapon in public.

The court heard that sometime in 2017, Juraimi’s nephews, who were in their 20s, played against Mr Rasul’s team. 

There was “some rough play” during the match and one of them was injured, Deputy Public Prosecutor Daphne Lim told the court.

When Juraimi learned of what happened, he became angry and decided to confront those involved, including Mr Rasul.

He searched for their photographs on social media and discovered their playing schedule. He then found out that Mr Rasul and another player involved, identified as Faheez, would be playing on July 23, 2017 at the Tampines Secondary School football field.

That day, Jurami contacted two friends and asked them to join him. One of them then contacted three others.

The six men went over to the school. Four of them, including Juraimi, entered the field area around 5pm, while one stood by the side gate entrance and the last man stayed in his car.

Juraimi approached the players and asked who Faheez was, before spotting Mr Rasul.

He stepped on the other man’s foot and asked if he was Rasul. When he replied yes, Juraimi immediately punched him several times on the face, causing him to fall to the ground.

Other players then went to help Mr Rasul.

At one point, Juraimi retrieved an extendable baton from his pouch and went towards Mr Rasul to attack him again.

When the other victim — Mr Aniq — tried to grab the weapon from him, Juraimi responded by punching his face several times and calling the others to join him.

Another man joined him in punching and kicking Mr Aniq all over his body, even after the victim fell to the ground.

The assailants fled shortly afterwards.

The victims sought medical attention at Changi General Hospital later that day. 

Mr Rasul was left with some scratch marks, while Mr Aniq sustained a small chip off his front tooth and an abrasion on his cheek. He also complained of a headache and dizziness.

Court documents did not state if the other assailants have been dealt with.

ONLY INTENDED TO SPEAK TO VICTIMS: LAWYER

In mitigation, Juraimi’s lawyer Gino Hardial Singh said that Juraimi had noticed his nephew “limping badly” after his own match. Another of his nephews’ eye socket was swollen too.

Juraimi had intended to speak to the rival players and make sure this would not happen again, and only brought along a baton in case “things turned awry for him since a football team could consist of up to 20 people”.

Mr Singh said that the first victim had responded in an aggressive manner, which infuriated him.

“We respectfully submit that Juraimi would never have acted the way he did if his loved ones were not injured. The manner in which he behaved was exacerbated by the sheer number of men and their aggressiveness,” the lawyer added.

Mr Singh also noted that his client had ultimately not used the baton in the attack.

For causing hurt, Juraimi could have been jailed up to two years, fined up to S$5,000 or both.

The offence of possessing an offensive weapon in public carries up to three years’ jail and at least six strokes of the cane.