SINGAPORE, May 6 — Following a public brawl with a minimart worker who refused to sell them alcohol, Muhammad Faiz Hamzah and Johanizam Johari returned to the shop, with the former carrying a sharpened samurai sword to confront the shopkeeper.
Seeing this, the shopkeeper picked up an umbrella and ended up chasing away the sword-wielding Faiz.
Today, Faiz, 31, was sentenced to three months’ jail for one charge each of unlawfully possessing offensive weapon and criminal intimidation, with one charge of committing an affray taken into consideration.
Faiz is the last of the three individuals involved in the incident to be sentenced.
The shopkeeper, Gu Desheng, 41, was fined S$600 in March for affray. Later that month, Johanizam, 29, was sentenced to three months’ jail and a fine of S$600 for one charge each of fighting in public and possessing an offensive weapon.
What happened
On Friday, the court heard that the Faiz and Johanizam went to the minimart at Block 301 Serangoon Avenue 2 at about 10.20pm on Oct 18 last year.
They tried to buy alcohol but the minimart's shopkeeper, Gu, refused to sell it to them as Johanizam did not have his NRIC with him.
Johanizam then asked Faiz to buy alcohol for him but Gu refused to accept this either.
Johanizam and Gu began arguing and cursed at each other with Hokkien vulgarities. Shortly after, they stepped out of the store despite attempts by bystanders to keep them apart, and began fighting.
Gu threw punches at Johanizam, who in turn kicked the other man. Faiz also joined in, with parts of the fight captured on closed-circuit television footage, court documents said.
Johanizam and Faiz then walked away. At Faiz's request, Johanizam went to his nearby flat to retrieve the samurai sword, which had a 70cm-long blade and sharpened tip, which he had previously bought on Carousell.
He handed the weapon to Faiz at a staircase landing and they returned to the minimart.
Faiz took the sword out of its sheath in front of Gu with the intention of scaring him. Gu picked up an umbrella to defend himself and also scare the pair away.
Faiz then ran away, with Gu in pursuit.
He hid the weapon behind some piping at a nearby housing block to avoid attracting attention. He then called his sister to bring him a jacket, which he then wore so that Gu would not notice him.
Meanwhile, Johanizam had gone to another block to continue drinking with his friends.
A member of the public lodged a police report. When police officers went to the scene and spoke to Johanizam, he told them that Faiz had run away.
Johanizam went to another nearby block to hide from the police, before eventually going back down to the void deck when another friend called to tell him that the officers wanted to speak to him again.
Both Faiz and Johanizam were escorted at around 5am the next day to Healthway Medical to ascertain their blood alcohol levels.
A Health Sciences Authority report stated that Johanizam had 88mg of ethanol per 100ml of blood in his system.
Those convicted of possessing an offensive weapon under the Penal Code can be jailed for up to two years or fined, or punished with both.
Those who commit criminal intimidation can be jailed for up to two years or fined, or both.
The punishment for the same offence can be extended to 10 years if the threat involves causing death, grievous hurt or causing destruction of property by fire. — TODAY
