Man who threw watermelon knife at police officer at Bukit Batok charged

SINGAPORE — A man who threw a knife that hit a police officer's right cheek at Bukit Batok West Avenue 8 was charged in the State Courts on Wednesday (16 March).

Leonard Goh Yew Cheng, 27, was handed one charge of voluntarily causing hurt to deter a public servant from his duty.

The Singaporean is said to have attacked a police station inspector on the 13th-floor corridor of Block 441A Bukit Batok West Avenue 8 at around 9.08pm on Monday. He allegedly threw a watermelon knife at the 42-year-old police officer, with the handle hitting the officer's right cheek, causing a reddish bruise.

The officer and his colleagues had been responding to a call for help as Goh was allegedly shouting and looking for someone at the location while armed with the knife.

As Goh was being arrested, he purportedly pulled out the knife from underneath his T-shirt and threw it at the officer.

Found to have five long knives at residence

Goh was given one charge of possessing an offensive weapon for having the watermelon knife with the 47cm-long handle at the HDB flat corridor. He was also slapped with one charge of abetting the possession of offensive weapons, as he was later found to have five long knives at his residence.

The police seized the watermelon knife as well as the five knives. They said in a media press release that, based on preliminary investigations, the incident was not an act of terror.

Goh will be remanded for psychiatric observation and his case will return to court on 30 March.

If convicted of voluntarily causing hurt to deter a public servant from his duty, he faces a jail term of up to seven years, a fine or caning, while possessing an offensive weapon carries a jail term of up to three years and caning of at least six strokes.

Stay in the know on-the-go: Join Yahoo Singapore's Telegram channel at http://t.me/YahooSingapore