Updated: 11/08/2013 17:31 | By Channel NewsAsia
Transsexual jailed 2 years for stabbing, slashing ex-boyfriend
A transgender woman attacked her boyfriend with a knife, pair of scissors and a fork after he "unfriended" her on Facebook and changed his status to "single". William Hanz De Veyra Arriesgado (above), a 25-year-old Filipino who had a sex change but could not change her name under her country's laws, was sentenced to two years in jail yesterday for causing her Australian lover grievous hurt. -- ST FILE PHOTO: WONG KWAI CHOW
SINGAPORE: The Filipino transsexual who stabbed and slashed an ex-boyfriend after getting dumped on Facebook was on Friday sent to jail for two years.
25-year-old William Hanz De Veyra Arriesgado, now a woman, had admitted to attacking 47-year-old Peady Colin James at a fifth-floor unit at Sunhaven condominium along Upper Changi Road.
The assault happened on 26 February last year, sometime after 9pm.
Arriesgado was in a romantic relationship with Mr James, an Australian, at the time of the offence.
Earlier that night, the couple got into an argument at a pub in Duxton Road.
Mr James then headed home alone and changed his Facebook status from "engaged" to "single".
He also deleted Arriesgado from his Facebook friend list.
The two got into a heated dispute when Arriesgado got home.
The accused then used a 20-centimetre long blade and stabbed his then-boyfriend in the stomach and slashed his head, torso and limb.
The victim staggered out of the unit to escape, but Arriesgado followed him.
Arriesgado picked up a pair of kitchen scissors and metal fork, then stabbed and slashed the victim on the back and in his face.
In sentencing, District Judge Eugene Teo said he tried to understand what drove the accused to commit such violence.
The judge said he agreed that there were truly exceptional circumstances, so "neither specific deference, rehabilitation nor prevention need feature prominently in the sentence".
But the judge noted that Arriesgado had made Mr James "pay dearly" as there were more than 16 separate and serious injuries inflicted on the victim.
"The grievous assault - even if haphazard - was sustained and determined; persisting even after the victim had fallen over in a heap," said the judge.
The judge said a "substantial imprisonment term is due".
The maximum punishment for causing grievous hurt is a jail term of 10 years, fine and caning. - CNA/xq
