• Toh Cheng Hoon has been diagnosed with delusional disorder — jealous type
• He believed that Lee Kim Seng was having an affair with his wife and attacked him with a chopper
• Toh did not know about his disorder before the attack on Mr Lee

SINGAPORE — Angered at the sight of a coffee-shop patron he believed was having an affair with his wife, a hawker attacked the man with a chopper.

On Friday (May 28), Toh Cheng Hoon, 70, pleaded guilty to one charge of voluntarily causing hurt with a dangerous weapon, and was jailed for five months.

Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Colin Ng said that the attack on Mr Lee Kim Seng, 58, took place at a coffee shop at 151 Serangoon North Avenue 2 on Nov 4 last year.

While it was not stated in court, a food guide published by The Straits Times in August last year featured Toh and said that he was the cook and the owner of a dim sum stall at the coffee shop.

The court heard that Mr Lee had arrived at the coffee shop at around 5.30pm that day to have dinner with his family.

While waiting for them to arrive, he made his way to the washroom when he encountered Toh.

DPP Ng said that Mr Lee had recognised Toh from an earlier physical altercation between the two men sometime in 2017. While it was not stated what the altercation was about, the prosecutor said that Mr Lee had been trying to avoid the older man since then.

Toh confronted Mr Lee and began hurling profanities at him and pushing his chest. Mr Lee told the aggressor to “cease his unruly behaviour”, DPP Ng said.

The hawker returned to his stall at around 5.40pm where he retrieved a chopper with a 20cm blade and charged towards Mr Lee with it.

Mr Lee instinctively picked up a plastic tray to shield himself, but was still unable to avoid being slashed on the face, leaving him with a 5cm-long wound.

A scuffle broke out between the two before other patrons managed to break up the fight and disarm Toh.

Toh told investigators that he was upset with Mr Lee because he suspected the younger man of having an affair with his wife.

However, Mr Lee said that he does not even know her name, and that they only had a casual conversation with each other at the coffee shop a few months before the attack.

DPP Ng, who sought a jail term of at least six months, said that Toh was examined at the Institute of Mental Health (IMH) and was diagnosed with delusional disorder — jealous type.

The prosecutor said the disorder, which was not diagnosed or treated before the attack, manifested itself as delusions about his wife’s infidelity.

Toh’s defence lawyer, Mr Tan Jeh Yaw, sought a jail term of no more than three months for his client, saying that Toh not only co-operated with the authorities at the earliest opportunity, but was both mentally and physically ill.

He added that Toh, who did not know about his disorder until he was diagnosed by IMH, has since stopped working at the coffee shop and that there would be “zero likelihood” he would ever encounter Mr Lee again.

Anyone found guilty of voluntarily causing hurt to another with a dangerous weapon is liable to be punished with a jail term of up to seven years, or fined, or caned, or a combination of these three punishments. Toh cannot be caned as he is above the age of 50.