Man, 42, unhappy with life, blames ex-employer of 3 years ago & returns to smash office with hammer

A 42-year-old man went to the hospital for treatment in December 2023 as he was concerned about a fishbone being lodged in his throat.

Toh Yeow Wee became unhappy and upset when the hospital apparently charged him for a computed tomography scan, which was not performed.

Formerly employed with an engineering company up until April 2020, he believed it was the company that had "hacked the computer systems" of the hospital.

Three days later, he received an email from a headhunting company offering him a job interview for the role of a programmer, but felt angry as he had no prior experience as one.

He blamed the company for "trying to harass him".

He then remembered that his car was smashed more than 10 years ago.

He blamed the company behind all these occurrences and wanted revenge.

Went down to his former company with two hammers three days later

According to court documents seen by Mothership, on Dec. 6, 2023, Toh left his residence in Bukit Batok and headed down to the building located along International Business Park by bicycle.

He brought along two hammers with the intention of using them to break the rear windscreen of the vehicle belonging to the company's founder.

Toh also wore a helmet, tactical fatigues, a mask and boots, all of which were black.

When he arrived at the building's vicinity, he noticed that the parking lot where the company's founder usually parked was empty and decided to look for the "VP's (vice-president's) car".

Upon seeing the chief operations officer's car, Toh used the two hammers to shatter the vehicle's entire rear windscreen.

He then ran off towards a nearby road junction, stopped, and ran back towards the company's building.

Threw a hammer at the main entrance's glass door and a glass panel multiple times

Toh then proceeded to throw a hammer at the main door at the front entrance of the building, which was made of glass.

The hammer struck the glass door but bounced off it, and Toh picked up the hammer and threw it at the door once again.

At this point, he was seen by one of the company's employees, who then walked out of the building.

As the employee emerged from the building, just a few metres away from the glass door, Toh threw the hammer again.

Court documents added that Toh knew there was a real risk he might have hurt the employee and that it was unreasonable for him to do so.

Toh then picked up the hammer and threw it thrice at a glass panel, causing it to crack and leave a hole in the process.

Threatened the company's employee with hammers

When the employee took out his phone to film Toh, he decided to threaten the employee by approaching him while wielding the two hammers.

Toh also raised the hammers in his right hand behind his head as if he was about to hurl the hammer at the employee and told him to "delete it" in Mandarin.

This alarmed the employee and made him afraid for his safety and he quickly gestured to Toh that he was not filming and went back into the building to look for assistance.

Toh then left the building and ran away to avoid detection.

Meanwhile, the employee informed his supervisor who called the police in turn.

Toh's actions were partially captured by a closed-circuit television camera located at the front entrance of the building.

The cost of repairing the damage caused to the rear windscreen of the chief operations officer's car was S$920 while the cost of repairing the damage to the glass panel was S$4,421.04.

Arrested on Feb. 6, 2024 after bringing multiple weapons to his police interview

Prior to Feb. 6, 2024, police officers investigating Toh for various offences had tried to contact and locate him to no avail, including by visiting his residence, contacting him through WhatsApp, calling him, messaging him and visiting his residence.

On Feb. 6, 2024, an officer was able to contact Toh, and she persuaded Toh to report to Clementi Police Division Headquarters for an interview.

In response, Toh asked her if she knew what a firearm was and told her to prepare her firearm as he would be bringing all of his weapons to the interview.

Upon arriving at Clementi's headquarters, his bag was searched, and a few offensive weapons, such as a Swiss army knife and two hammers, were found in his bag.

Other items included a lighter, two extendable batons, and a mini camera.

When Toh was questioned about the items in his possession, he replied, "In case what we are talking is disagreeable with me lor."

He was arrested.

Prosecution: Toh's delusionary disorder means he has a clear risk of re-offending

Toh was diagnosed with delusionary disorder, persecutory type, by the Institute of Mental Health (IMH).

In their sentencing submissions, the prosecution said his disorder meant he had a clear risk of re-offending.

They also noted that Toh was motivated by vengeance in his actions against his former employer and that he also showed a "blatant disregard" for the law over the weapons incident at Clementi headquarters.

There are "no other mitigating factors" apart from his early plea of guilt within 12 weeks after his hearing, the prosecution concluded.

Toh pleaded guilty to four charges, including one charge of endangering life or personal safety by a rash act, one for possessing offensive weapons, and two for the offence of mischief.

Four other charges were also taken into consideration.

He was sentenced to seven months in prison and six strokes of the cane.

Top photo by Wisnu Amaludin via Unsplash