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Zhen Ji
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Jul 8, 2011
Chomp Chomp stall holder jailed for attack with ladle
By Khushwant Singh
A hawker at Chomp Chomp food centre in Serangoon Gardens hit another hawker with a ladle, fracturing her right forearm. -- PHOTO: ST
SIMMERING tension between two stall holders of Chomp Chomp food centre in Serangoon Gardens boiled over early in 2011, resulting in a ladle being used as a weapon of offence.
In the hands of an infuriated Yeo Teck Heng, 52, the metre-long ladle hit 50-year-old Ng Siew Kin's right forearm hard enough to fracture it.
Yeo, who used to run Daily Fresh BBQ Chicken Wing & Spring Chicken, was jailed 14 months on Friday for the Feb 8 incident.
The wooden-handled ladle with a diameter of 4cm also hit 12-year-old customer Ng Siew Khim, giving her a swelling on her head. The charge for causing hurt to the girl through a rash act was considered by the judge when the sentence was passed.
Yeo has been in remand since Feb 11. His prison term will be backdated to then. Defence counsel Sunil Sudheesan told the court that Ms Ng used to work for Yeo, but had left to set up a sugar cane drink stall in the same food centre.
Some months before the incident, she had had a quarrel with Yeo over disparaging remarks she was alleged to have made about him.
Whenever Yeo was within earshot, Ms Ng would allegedly mutter: 'Buy one, get one free', in a reference to his marriage to a divorcee with a 21-year-old daughter.
On the day of the attack, Yeo lost his cool and hit Ms Ng with the ladle out of frustration, the lawyer said.
