A 62-year-old man’s kind act of returning a missing phone was reciprocated with violence when the owner severely beat him, leaving him bedridden for weeks.
The assault in July 2020 left him with bone fractures and lacerations.
The phone’s owner, 52-year-old Mark Alan Edge, who rained blows on the unsuspecting victim, recently received a 13-month jail sentence.
On the night of 12 July 2020, Mark Alan Edge boarded a Grab car with his wife along Holland Avenue.
Both of them were drunk at the time, reported Channel NewsAsia (CNA).
Source: Bloomberg via MarketWatch, for illustration purposes only.
The Grab car turned out to be the wrong one, so the two alighted. In the process, Edge’s wife left her phone in the backseat.
The female Grab driver then picked up the correct passenger, a 62-year-old man.
On the way to the passenger’s destination, the driver received a call from Edge asking for the phone back.
She requested the passenger accompany her there as she was afraid of the drunk Edge. He agreed.
However, when the victim tried to return the phone at Holland Village, Edge allegedly sucker-punched him from behind and started assaulting him.
Edge then shoved the passenger down and continued beating him on the ground.
Shin Min Daily News reported that the assault lasted about five minutes, based on video evidence. The police subsequently arrived and arrested the alleged attacker.
The victim unfortunately suffered a fractured finger and eye socket, as well as lacerations on his face, hands, and knees.
Additionally, the beating gave him post-concussion syndrome and vertigo, leaving him bedridden for weeks.
In court, Edge pleaded not guilty as he believed the victim wanted to extort him for money in exchange for the phone at the time.
His wife also claimed that the victim grabbed Edge from behind, but admitted to not remembering “the entire sequence of events”.
Despite their defence, District Judge Luke Tan convicted Edge of one count of voluntarily causing grievous hurt.
The prosecutor labelled the victim as a “good Samaritan” whose kind gesture Edge returned with an “unprovoked violent campaign”.
As such, she sought 18 to 21 months’ jail, inclusive of three months’ jail as Edge could not be caned, since he’s over 50.
She also requested a compensation order of S$14,481.30, which is the sum of the victim’s medical expenses.
On 19 Dec, the judge sentenced Edge to 13 months’ jail, inclusive of three months’ jail in place of caning.
However, he declined the compensation order as he believed a civil trial would better decide the issue.
The victim, a director at insurance company Manulife Singapore, has thus taken up a civil lawsuit against Edge.
Also read: Fight Breaks Out After Drunk Man Slaps Chinatown Supermarket Manager, Police Arrest Him
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Featured image adapted from Google Maps, for illustration purposes only.
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