Man, 72, jailed 12 months after Jalan Besar neighbour, 69, dies following bloody corridor scuffle

A fatal scuffle broke out between two neighbours along the corridor of a Jalan Besar block in December 2024 after one confronted the other about bumping into each other at the lift entrance earlier that day.

When the 69-year-old victim used a wooden stick to him Lim Tee Tee, 72, the older man grabbed a kitchen knife and slashed the victim several times, injuring him.

After the fight, the victim fainted, and subsequently passed away from heart disease in hospital.

Lim was placed under arrest the same day.

A report by the Institute of Mental Health (IMH) in January found that Lim had persistent depressive disorder at the time of the offences.

Lim was sentenced to 12 months' jail on Jul. 17, Lianhe Zaobao reported.

Confrontation over collision at lift entrance

Court documents seen by Mothership indicated that the fatal scuffle took place at Block 805 King George's Ave on Dec. 22, 2024.

At around 11:25am, Lim was returning home after buying food when he encountered his neighbour at the lift landing on level eight, as both lived on the same floor.

As Lim was exiting the lift, he collided with the victim who was trying to enter.

Both were unhappy but went on their way.

However, the victim subsequently called his acquaintance, who did not know Lim, to accompany him.

The victim did not specify what they were doing but brought along a wooden stick.

The two then went to Lim's unit, where the victim confronted him about the collision.

Escalated into bloody corridor scuffle

Lim opened his gate and went out to argue with the victim.

When the argument escalated and the victim hit him with the stick, Lim ran back inside and got a knife with a 37cm long blade from his kitchen.

At around 11:30am, the two had a bloody scuffle with their weapons at the corridor.

During the scuffle, Lim slashed the victim several times, causing multiple lacerations, bruises and abrasions on his head, neck and limbs.

When the man's acquaintance tried to intervene, Lim swung his knife and injured his left forearm.

Sometime later, the fight ended.

The victim left and went to the lift lobby, but later fainted near the lift, as per previous reports.

Meanwhile, his acquaintance asked Lim for water to wash his wounds. Both remained at Lim's unit until police arrived.

When officers asked Lim for the weapon used, he initially showed them a different knife.

It was only after investigations revealed a bloodstained knife placed under the sink that Lim confessed that it was the correct weapon used.

Victim died from heart disease

The victim was conveyed to Tan Tock Seng Hospital by ambulance, and was pronounced dead at 1:20pm.

An autopsy found that he had died from ischaemic heart disease.

The scuffle had resulted in numerous blunt force and sharp force injuries to the victim, such as a 5.5cm incised wound on his forehead, a 4.5cm by 0.5cm incised wound that went through his nose cartilage and caused cartilaginous fractures, along with other wounds on his scalp, neck, and right arm.

However, the report found that these injuries were not fatal.

His acquaintance was conveyed to the same hospital to get his left forearm injury treated.

Meanwhile, Lim was brought to Changi General Hospital as he complained of chest pain at the time of arrest.

Lim was found to have sustained 1cm lacerations on his left eyebrow and left thumb, along with abrasions over his left forearm, left thumb and left knee.

He was placed under arrest later that day.

An IMH report dated Jan. 23, 2025, found that Lim suffered from persistent depressive disorder, which had a mild contributory link to the offending behaviour.

However, the report noted that Lim was not of unsound mind at the time, was aware that it was wrong of him to take the knife, and had deliberately chosen it as a weapon for self-defence.

He didn't initiate the fight: Defence

Lim pleaded guilty to voluntarily causing hurt with a dangerous weapon.

Another charge of reckless conduct causing hurt was taken into consideration for his sentencing.

The prosecution asked for a sentence of 14 to 17 months' jail for Lim, noting that he had inflicted numerous injuries on the head and neck region of the victim using a dangerous weapon.

The prosecutor also argued that had the victim not been pronounced dead, it is likely he would have to undergo surgery for several of the injuries, such as those which incised cartilage and caused cartilaginous fractures.

In mitigation, Lim's lawyer argued that he was not a violent man and pointed out that he had not initiated the fight.

He asked for a lighter sentence for Lim.

In response, the judge noted that even though the victim had provoked Lim first over a trivial matter, Lim had overreacted and retaliated with a weapon despite knowing it was wrong to do so.

Top image from Lianhe Zaobao