SINGAPORE — A 56-year-old serial offender was on Friday (Aug 6) jailed another 10 months for permanently damaging another inmate’s ear by biting off a part of it during a fight at Changi Prison.

Teo Chye Lye got into a dispute with Lim Lee Yat, 53, while they were packing coffee sachets at a workshop on Dec 15 last year.

The two Singaporean men began arguing after Teo pushed some spilled coffee powder to Lim’s side of the worktable, which meant that Lim had to pack more. 

When Teo told Lim not to be so “calculative”, the two men started fighting. 

Lim first threw a punch on Teo’s face and Teo retaliated by punching him back.

As they continued scuffling, Teo bit off the upper portion of Lim’s left ear.

Other inmates alerted a prison officer to the brawl and he commanded both of them to stop.

After the officer called for medical help, he found part of Lim’s ear on the floor.

Lim was referred to Changi General Hospital in Simei. A doctor found that he had sustained two bruises to his eye area and other injuries.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Gabriel Lim told the court: “It was found that the victim’s ear injury could not be stitched back and that the loss of that part of the earlobe would be permanent.” 

Lim was given a stern warning over the fracas where Teo also sustained bruises on his face.

Teo pleaded guilty to one count of voluntarily causing hurt that turned into grievous hurt.

His long string of offences, which dated back to 1986, included voluntarily causing hurt and possessing an offensive weapon in 2002. 

He was sentenced to five years of corrective training for those crimes. This is a harsher form of imprisonment, as an offender is unlikely to be given early release for factors such as good behaviour.

In 2016, he was jailed nine months for criminal intimidation.

At the time of his latest offence, he was serving about five years behind bars for drug consumption and possession.

District Judge Tan Jen Tse rejected Teo’s request to backdate his latest 10-month sentence to when he was charged on June 25. The judge ruled that it would start after Teo finishes serving his jail term for the drug offences.

The harm that he caused was serious and he had a “poor record of offences involving violence”, District Judge Tan said.

For the crime, Teo could have been jailed for up to five years or fined up to S$10,000, or punished with both.