Jail sentence for chef who attacked colleague with knife due to work-related stress

SINGAPORE: A chef who attacked his colleague with a knife while they were preparing ingredients was sentenced to four weeks in jail on Tuesday (Nov 26).

Tiew Cher Suay, 58, pleaded guilty to one count of criminal intimidation. Another rash charge was eligible for sentencing.

Tiew and the victim, also in their 50s, both worked as chefs at Little Italy restaurant in Woodleigh Mall.

On March 31, they were preparing ingredients in the kitchen when the victim asked Tiew to keep the food in a proper container.

Tiew felt the victim gave him more work than was warranted, especially since he was a new recruit, said Deputy Public Prosecutor Yee Jia Rong.

He shouted at the victim, who backed away. Tiew then grabbed a knife with a 38cm blade and charged at the victim.

The victim was able to grab Tiew and prevent him from waving his arms. He also pinned Tiew’s arms against a table. But Tiew continued to struggle while holding the knife.

Other restaurant staff intervened to separate the men, and Tiew was arrested the same day.

The victim suffered cuts to his hands as a result of the struggle and was given three days of medical leave.

Mr Yee asked for four to five weeks in prison for Tiew, arguing that he used a knife with a blade of considerable length and that his actions were unprovoked by the victim.

The prosecutor also cited Tiew’s related previous convictions, including use of criminal force and committing a rash act in 2008.

Lawyer Anil Singh demanded three weeks in jail and also said his client had a mild intellectual disability.

Tiew was hired by Little Italy earlier in March and was in charge of cooking pasta, while the victim was in charge of making pizza.

Although their duties were clearly defined, Tiew was given duties that were outside his area of ​​responsibility, Mr Singh said.

On the day of the incident, the victim ordered Tiew to perform tasks related to preparing pizzas. This was not Tiew’s responsibility, but he helped the victim, the lawyer said.

He said that when Tiew was cutting ingredients for pizza, he accidentally put them in a plastic container when they should have been put in a different container.

The victim “warned” Tiew about this, and Tiew “lost his bearings”, became overwhelmed and committed the offence, Mr Singh said.

However, the lawyer said this context did not excuse Tiew’s actions, and that he was remorseful and had offered compensation to the victim.

Mr Singh said Tiew also suffered cuts on his hands and was put in a headlock during the struggle with the victim, for which he was given three days’ medical leave.

The doctor who assessed Tiew at the Institute of Mental Health (IMH) said he would benefit from counseling to better manage his emotions, the lawyer said.

He added that Tiew found the guidance helpful and stuck to his commitments.

In response, Mr Yee said the plaintiff would not file a claim for damages because the victim’s medical expenses were covered by his employer.

He also noted that the IMH report states that there is no causal link between Tiew’s offenses and the mental illness he has.

Work-related stress did not justify Tiew threatening someone else with a dangerous weapon, Yee said.

Deputy Chief District Judge Kessler Soh told Tiew: “I hope this is something you remember. No matter how upset or upset you are, you should not pick up a knife and do what you did. It is a very serious offence.”

After Tiew was convicted, he asked the court if he could serve his prison sentence on Friday because he had to do his laundry.

This reason only emerged after some back and forth, when Tiew, speaking through a Mandarin interpreter, initially said he “didn’t know how to say it” when asked why he wanted a delay.

His lawyer then spoke to him and informed the court of his reason.

Judge Soh said that after imposing the sentence retroactively to take into account his time in pretrial detention, he would be released soon. Tiew then agreed to begin his sentence on Tuesday.

The penalty for criminal intimidation is a prison sentence of up to two years, a fine, or both.