4 men jailed for beating up Geylang pub patron in 2023 has sentences reduced after appeal

The four men who were charged in March 2024 for causing hurt to a man appealed to reduce their sentence.

Previously, three men, Ng Cheng Tiam, Siaw Wee Leong and Ngo Ngoc Anh were sentenced to nine months in jail.

Yap Kiat Ching, judged to have been the instigator of the fight, was sentenced to 10 months in jail.

In December 2024, the four men successfully appealed, and their sentences were reduced to seven months' imprisonment for Ng, Siaw and Ngo and eight months' imprisonment for Yap.

The four men were all fruit sellers working for the same company and had frequented a pub in Geylang.

In March 2024, the court heard that the men had punched and kicked the victim in the face, head, body and legs.

The victim suffered from multiple injuries, including a right black ete, bruises to the head, swollen lip and rib fractures.

The men had pleaded guilty.

"See what see?"

On Jan. 18, 2023, at around 10:30pm, the victim and his friends were having drinks at Mask 51.

They stayed there for some time, and the pub got increasingly crowded.

Sometime around midnight, Ng suggested to the other accused persons and his colleagues, which included other individuals not implicated in the assault, to have drinks at Mask 51 after work.

They agreed.

Ng then drove Yap, Siaw, and another man to Mask 51 in his car, as they were working at the same location at that time.

When they arrived at around 12:15am, Ngo was already there and had secured a table for the group.

Three other men, not implicated in the assault, subsequently arrived and joined the session.

The accused persons and their colleagues then continued to drink beer and dance at Mask 51.

By this time, the pub was fairly crowded.

The accused persons and their colleagues were drinking at a table next to the victim and his friends.

All parties had consumed alcohol and were fairly intoxicated.

Sometime around 2am, one of the victim's friends fell, knocking into one of the tables occupied by the accused persons and their colleagues, causing some of the glasses of alcohol to spill onto Yap and the floor.

The person who fell was then helped up by the victim and his friends.

Yap and Siaw noticed that the victim appeared to be staring at Siaw, as the victim had turned around to look at the accused persons a number of times.

Siaw asked the victim, “See what see?”, assuming that the victim had been accusing him of causing his friend to fall.

Yap, who was dancing, then turned around and placed the victim in a headlock, using his arm to hold on to the victim’s neck.

Siaw and Ng similarly grabbed onto the victim.

They then started to tussle inside of Mask 51.

The accused persons’ colleagues, as well as other patrons of the pub, attempted to separate them, but to no avail.

Yap then dragged the victim outside the bar and started to throw punches at the victim’s head.

Ng joined in and started punching and kicking the victim.

Other persons, including those not implicated, attempted to stop the fight.

Yap and Ng chased the victim onto the road, and he fell.

Yap kicked the victim in the back.

He got up but was wrestled to the ground by Yap.

He was then punched several times by Yap, Ng, and Siaw, who had run in to join the assault.

Yap kicked the victim in the face.

Ngo then joined in to kick the victim twice in the ribs and the head.

At this point in time, Ng, Yap, Siaw, and Ngo had the common intention to voluntarily cause hurt to the victim.

Ng, Yap, and Siaw continued to kick the victim.

The victim was also kicked in the legs.

The other colleagues attempted to stop the assault and eventually managed to bring Ng, Yap, and Siaw away.

At around 2:37am, a member of the public called the police, informing them: "People fighting along Lorong 39, outside Mask 51."

The accused persons then left the scene.

The victim was subsequently conveyed to Tan Tock Seng Hospital.

He was given nine days of medical leave.

He incurred a total of S$862.92 in medical expenses.

The victim continued to feel discomfort in his injured ribs for a period of time after the assault.

Top photo via court documents