S'pore man, 66, with over 40 cases in 30 years slashes sleeping stranger, said he felt like attacking

A 66-year-old man who violated the law multiple times over more than 30 years was sentenced on Apr. 7, 2026, to 11 years and six months' jail after continuing his streak of violent behaviour, which included slashing a sleeping stranger with a sickle.

The Straits Times reported that Lau Kwee Yong pleaded guilty to four charges, including voluntarily causing hurt while committing or attempting to commit robbery, voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons, using criminal force against a public servant, and the consumption of methamphetamine.

According to charge sheets viewed by Mothership, five other charges were taken into consideration during sentencing.

Over 40 cases

This comes after Lau was involved in over 40 cases between 1980 and 2019, ST reported, adding that this included multiple charges for robbery, snatch theft, the possession of offensive weapons, and rioting with deadly weapons.

Lau was also charged with the consumption of controlled or specified drugs on eight occasions between 1981 and 2018.

Strike with flower pot

One of Lau's current charges was for an incident that occurred at a coffee shop in the Tiong Bahru district in July 2023.

Lau, who was intoxicated, struck a man's head at least 13 times with a flowerpot after the man took a seat at Lau's table without asking Lau.

This was even though the man had left and gone to another table after being told the seat was taken, ST reported.

It was only after a passer-by intervened to take the flower pot out of Lau's hands that he stopped hitting the man.

After the assaulted man sought medical assistance, where he was recorded to have suffered five lacerations on his scalp, two lacerations on his arm, and swelling, Lau was identified and arrested on Nov. 9, 2023.

Attempted to grab female police officer

ST reported that another of Lau's current charges was for attempting to grab a female police officer who did not allow him to smoke while he was interviewed by the police in May 2024.

The officers were responding to a report made by Lau's neighbour who discovered that the padlock to her door had been damaged, where CCTV footage subsequently identified Lau as the culprit.

While being interviewed by the officers, Lau became angry after the female officer rejected his request to smoke.

He then waited until she turned her back towards him before moving towards her to grab her from the back.

Luckily, the police officer's colleague saw what Lau intended to do and immediately held onto him before he could reach the female officer, said the prosecution.

Lau was then arrested.

Latest offence

Following this, Lau's latest offence occurred in May 2025, when a man who had fallen asleep on a chair in the pavilion of a Redhill Housing Board block jolted awake after feeling pain on his face.

ST reported that the man saw Lau, who was then masked, holding a sickle in front of him and tried to run away from Lau.

When he failed to get away from Lau, he asked Lau why he was attacking him, to which Lau responded that, though he did not know or bear any grudges with the man, he felt he wanted to attack him as there was nobody around.

Lau then said he was in need of money and instructed the man to hand over some money if he did not want to be attacked again, after which the man handed over S$200 to Lau, who quickly left the pavilion and threw the sickle into a nearby drain.

The man is recorded to have sustained multiple lacerations over his eyebrow, nose and left little finger, ST reported.

Lau was identified and arrested later that same day, and his urine samples tested positive for methamphetamine.

He also admitted to having been consuming the drug since 2023 after purchasing the drug from unknown sellers in Geylang.

Top photo via AFP