A 72-year-old man in Singapore has been sentenced to one year and 11 months in prison after assaulting his 68-year-old brother with a metal pole and setting fire to his flat over an inheritance dispute.
According to The Straits Times (ST), Hoe San Peng pleaded guilty to charges of assault and mischief by fire on Tuesday (11 March).
The incident occurred after his brother refused to give him any money following the death of their father.
In 2021, the father of the two men sold his flat and moved in with his younger son.
After his death in 2023, Hoe discovered that his brother was the sole beneficiary of the proceeds from the sale.
It is unclear whether their father left any other inheritance.
A month after their father’s funeral, which Hoe did not attend, he confronted his brother about being excluded from the inheritance.
When his brother refused to give him money, Hoe angrily smashed a wooden chair outside the unit and shattered some window louvres, Deputy Public Prosecutor Dillon Kok explained.
The victim initially refrained from contacting the authorities, not wanting his older brother to face legal trouble.
However, in June 2023, Hoe returned to his brother’s flat, armed with a metal pole, and broke more window louvres.
When he threatened to assault his brother, a police report was filed.
Despite being questioned by the police, Hoe persisted in harassing his brother.
On 13 Nov 2023, around 5pm, Hoe waited for his brother to return home while armed with a metal pole.
When the victim arrived, Hoe charged at him, striking his face with the pole and repeatedly punching him.
A neighbour intervened and managed to separate the two men.
Hoe fled the scene, and the neighbour’s son quickly alerted the police.
The victim later visited a polyclinic, where he was treated for injuries, including an abrasion on his left cheek and a bruised right hand.
Still enraged, Hoe took matters further and decided to set fire to his brother’s flat on 28 Jan 2025.
Around 3.40pm, he drove a lorry to his brother’s home, carrying three plastic bottles filled with a petrol-diesel mixture.
At the time, the victim and his son were at home when Hoe threw one of the bottles into the living room, igniting a fire.
Hoe then used a crowbar to strike the flat’s windows repeatedly.
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“He shouted at the victim that he would continue to look for him” before fleeing the scene, said DPP Kok.
The victim and his son managed to extinguish the flames using pails of water before calling the police, and Hoe was arrested later that evening.
DPP Kok noted that the fire caused damage to the entrance, front door, gate, and living room floor.
“The fire at the flat’s entrance would effectively cut off an escape route for the victim and his son. It was entirely fortuitous that [they] managed to put out the fire quickly,” DPP Kok said.
He also highlighted the dangers of starting a fire in a Housing Board flat, as its proximity to other units meant the blaze could have spread, causing significant damage.
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