James Teck Jing You, 19-years-old, was sentenced to 3.5 years imprisonment and 8 strokes of the cane earlier today, for stabbing and slashing a man who refused to help the underaged young punk to buy cigarettes.
Teck, who was 18-years-old, at the time of his offence, was at Boon Lay Shopping Centre on 7 October 2020.
He had a knife that he hid under his waistband that he bought several months ago, carrying it around with him whenever he left home for the purpose of self defense.
Teck noticed the victim, Mr Lee Jing Chwen, 23-years-old, walking in the opposite direction on a flight of stairs.
Teck then followed him up the stairs and approached him in the queue to enter the FairPrice store on the 2nd floor of the shopping mall.
Teck then asked Lee for his age and whether he would buy cigarettes for him, to which Lee rejected his request repeatedly.
It is worth noting that the minimum legal age to buy cigarettes at the time was 20-years-old, it has since been raised to 21-years-old.
Lee was angered that Lee wouldn’t help him to buy, and that he felt the older man was being “rude and disrespectful”.
Lee reached the front of the queue at the temperature screening station and asked the crew member there if she could tell Teck to stop following him and go away.
Teck then shouted: “YOU DON’T WANT TO BUY RIGHT?!” before lunging at Lee with the knife.
He grabbed Lee’s shoulder and slashed him several times.
Teck said that he was aiming for Lee’s face because it would be difficult for him to retaliate and defend himself.
Lee tried to duck Teck’s attacked and started shouting that he was sorry, but he was pulled down by Teck who swung his knife at him again.
Lee ran into the supermarket and left a trail of blood in his wake, and Teck was chasing after him and swinging his knife, this time aiming for the back of the victim’s head.
Teck then fled the supermarket after realising he had caught the public’s attention.
He then disposed the knife on top of a drain cover, washed Lee’s blood from his hands and took a cab to Yishun.
He was then arrested at 11pm and the weapon was recovered.
Lee was conveyed to hospital, suffering multiple injuries which would cause him permanent incapacity in terms of disfigurement and scarring.
Images source: Raynl Suhaini FB