• Andrew Ng Chuan Hock assaulted his 76-year-old aunt and left her with an ankle fracture
• He then went after a healthcare assistant who had come to check on her
• He kicked and stamped on her, threatened to kill her and swung a chopper at her
• She remained traumatised for several months and had to go for counselling sessions

SINGAPORE — After likely getting high on drugs and becoming intoxicated, Andrew Ng Chuan Hock assaulted his 76-year-old aunt and struck her with a metal coin container, leaving her with an ankle fracture.

He then targeted a healthcare assistant who had come to check on the older woman. He kicked and stamped on her abdomen, threatened to kill her and swung a chopper at her, which cut her finger.

She suffered flashbacks of the attack for several months afterwards.

Ng, aged 42, was jailed for five years and seven months on Wednesday (Sept 15) for his actions. He pleaded guilty to one charge each of voluntarily causing hurt with a dangerous weapon, and causing grievous hurt.

His sentence was backdated to when he was first remanded, one day after the incident on Jan 16 last year.

The court heard that he had gotten drunk at his aunt’s Ang Mo Kio flat, where he also lived. When he accused her of asking a gang to assault him the day before, she told him not to drink so much and said that she did not understand him.

Out of frustration, Ng retrieved a chopper from the kitchen and threw it at a shoe rack. He also struck her face and threw a phone charger at her head.

He then hit her head and arms with the coin container several times. Her head started to bleed and she shouted in pain, before he threw the container at her leg.

His assault led to the victim suffering several cuts, a fracture of her right ankle, and bruises on her face. She had to undergo surgery and was discharged to Ren Ci Community Hospital after spending 16 days in Tan Tock Seng Hospital.

She was given 30 days of hospitalisation leave, and as of April last year, she could walk without walking aids.

WENT AFTER HEALTHCARE ASSISTANT

Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Tan Yen Seow told the court that after attacking his aunt, Ng repeatedly pressed the emergency panic button in their flat but he had no intention of getting help for her.

Ms Ranitha Maniam, 31, and her colleagues then went to the flat to check on her. 

They worked at Thye Hua Kwan Seniors’ Activity Centre at the same housing block where Ng lived, and were tasked to check on the health of senior citizens living there. The emergency button is part of a system that alerts these caregivers to the seniors under their charge.

When the care team arrived, Ng refused to let his aunt leave, opening the door and threatening to attack Ms Ranitha’s colleague with the chopper.

Ms Ranitha tripped and fell when she and her colleagues ran from the threat. Ng then flipped her over, kicked her towards a wall and stamped on her abdomen, saying that he had just killed his aunt and would kill her next.

Ms Ranitha said: “Sorry, please don’t kill me.” Ng proceeded to pull her lanyard, misidentified her as a police officer and cut her photograph on her work pass, before raising the chopper and saying: “I will kill you now.”

He swung the weapon and she blocked it with her hands, sustaining a 4cm-long cut on her little finger.

A neighbour called the police, while Ng continued stamping on Ms Ranitha and shouting: “Better you die.”

She took the chance to flee when he chased after someone else who was shouting at him. She sought refuge in another resident’s flat, who comforted her and also called the police.

Police officers soon arrived and found Ng in an agitated state, shouting and pointing the chopper at them.

Ms Ranitha was also taken to Tan Tock Seng Hospital where she underwent an emergency hand operation. She was given 49 days’ hospitalisation leave and placed on light duty for 42 days.

DPP Tan told the court that after the incident, Ms Ranitha went for counselling sessions as she could not sleep. She relied on sleeping pills for about a month and feared knocking on doors, being followed, and travelling alone on public transport.

The prosecutor added: “As of March 2020, she was unable to assist her clients as she was placed on light duty. Her hand injury also prevented her from performing routine tasks. She required her friends’ assistance to move her mattress, clean her room, wash her clothes, cook, and wash the dishes.”

On Aug 24 last year, she reported that she had to go home immediately after seeing a “Chinese man holding a pair of scissors”, even though he did not approach her.

For now, she can cook and clean with assistance but still experiences pain in her injured finger, especially when the weather turns cold.

SIMILAR VIOLENCE-RELATED ANTECEDENT

A psychiatrist who examined Ng at the Institute of Mental Health stated that Ng had a polysubstance use disorder, which meant that he abused alcohol, codeine and methamphetamine.

Ng was likely to have been using meth at the time because his urine tested positive for it, a medical report stated. He was not charged with drug consumption.

The psychiatrist further found that he had been in a state of drug-induced psychosis and was at risk of violent reoffending, but was not so intoxicated that he could not form the intention of causing hurt.

DPP Tan, who sought at least six-and-a-half years’ imprisonment, revealed that Ng has been convicted several times since 1996, including in 2009 for a similar offence.

He had taken two bottles of beer into a coffee shop that sold halal food, then drunkenly struck his friend’s head with the bottle. It broke on impact and Ng then used it to stab the other man’s chest and forearm.

He could have been jailed for up to seven years, fined, caned, or received any combination of the three for voluntarily causing hurt with a dangerous weapon.

For causing grievous hurt, he could have been jailed up for 10 years, and given a fine or caning.