Ahirrudin Al-Had Haji Arrifin, 62-years-old, was in tears when he pleaded guilty on 7 March to a charge of voluntarily causing grievous hurt to an NParks Safe Distancing Enforcement Officer.

He had stabbed the officer with the bladed end of a walking stick as well as slashing the victim with a knife that was hidden in his shoe.

He was originally charged with attempted murder.

He also pleaded guilty to one charge of failing to wear a mask in public, as well as another charge of possession of a weapon.

Three more charges will be taken into consideration during his sentencing.

What happened?

Ahirrudin Al-Had Haji Arrifin left his home at Hougang on 4 May 2020 and rode his bicycle to Sungei Serangoon Park Connector to pick some pandan leaves that he intended to use for cooking.

He was then spotted by a couple of NParks officers, the victim and another female officer, at about 11.45am.

They were setting up SafeEntry signs at the area and the victim, a 38-year-old man, asked him why he was cutting the leaves and if he had a mask.

Ahirrudin then said he was entitled to cut the leaves and asked why does he need to wear a mask, before getting increasingly agitated.

He then went to his bicycle and took his walking stick, which had a 20.8cm long blade concealed in it.

It is also worth noting that Ahirrudin also had a kerambit knife hidden in each of his shoes.

The victim then took a photo of Ahirrudin and asked him for his particulars, and when he refused to cooperate, the victim then called the police.

Ahirrudin then used vulgarities on the victim, who was filming him on his phone, which agitated the accused even further.

The victim then unsheathed the concealed blade from his walking stick and stabbed the victim in the chest.

The victim then attempted to pull the blade out of his chest, but the accused then pushed it in, and as the two struggled, Ahirrudin then dropped the walking stick.

He then used one of the knives that was concealed in his shoe to slash the victim.

A passerby then stepped in and used his foot to hold Ahirrudin down, but he managed to get up, and the passerby and the two officers then fled the scene and called the police.

Ahirrudin was later arrested on the same day at about 1.15pm.

The victim was hospitalised for 4 days following his surgery for the attack and was given 89 days of medical leave.

However, he sustained impairment to his hands which makes performing tasks like tying his shoelaces difficult.

A family of 5 chicks were found poisoned and burned with their feathers plucked off, at Block 752 Yishun Street 72.

The culprit responsible for the inhumane act is currently still on the loose.

The chicks were found dead and grossly mutilated on the morning of 21 February, and before their untimely deaths, the chicks were regularly seen roading the car park and void decks nearby.

According to the residents, the chicks were poisoned by someone in the middle of the night, with the dead bodies of the chicks looking burned.

The culprit also allegedly poured chemicals on the tree that the hens were residing in.

A picture of the grisly remains of the chicks was pasted onto the lift lobby of the HDB building, with the residents believing the culprit to be living in one of the units there.

One of the residents wrote that the suspect is a man living at either Block 752 or 748, with his reason being that he allegedly found the chicks to be noisy.

Three youths between the ages of 14 and 16 are assisting the police with their investigations, following an incident of mischief and wilful trespass of property.

The incident allegedly happened at Block 4, Lorong 7 Toa Payoh, at about 3am on 4 March.

A netizen shared how he was unable to sleep that night and decided to go for a walk, before noticing a commotion.

He then allegedly witnessed a group of teenagers damaging a toilet at the block’s Pavilion Hall, and that was when he called the police.

The police were then seen at the scene speaking to the three teenagers.

The police confirmed that they were alerted to a case of mischief on 4 March at about 3.11am.

They said that three male teenagers aged 14 to 16 are currently assisting them in investigations for mischief and wilful trespass on property.

At the time of writing, the case is under investigation.