'He wanted to fight me one-on-one': Man hit by spanner after standing up for friend during dispute

By helping his friend get out of a sticky situation, one man ended up becoming the victim of a brutal attack. 

The incident occurred at about 5.35am on Thursday (Dec 1) at the void deck of Block 645 Ang Mo Kio Avenue 5, reported Shin Min Daily News.

Raymond, told the Chinese daily that it all started when he offered to sell a mobile phone to a male resident at that block for $60 on Wednesday.

After some negotiation, the latter ended up giving Raymond $20 and a pair of sunglasses in exchange for the phone. 

"However, he later backtracked and wanted the sunglasses back. I refused and got into an argument with him. He said he wanted to fight me one-on-one," recounted Raymond. 

Raymond's friend, who happened to be there, intervened to stop the quarrel and the male resident left. 

But the trouble didn't end there. 

During the wee hours of Thursday morning, the male resident returned to the void deck and attacked Raymond's friend, hitting him on the head with a spanner. 

He quickly fled the scene, but left behind a 20cm-long spanner, reported the Chinese daily. 

Raymond shared that he and his friend sleep at the same void deck regularly, and sometimes they'd sell second-hand goods to residents. 

He was not at the void deck when the attack occurred but only found out after his friend called the police and was taken to the hospital. 

Shin Min reporters who went to the location of the attack saw that a bench at the void deck was stained with blood. There were also some blood-soaked tissue papers and bandages scattered around. 

About 10 police officers were present, and the bloodied spanner was seized as evidence. 

Responding to AsiaOne's queries, the police said they were alerted to a case of assault on Thursday and a 55-year-old man was taken to the hospital. 

Police investigations are ongoing. 

Neighbours' brawl involving iron rod 

Just last month, two neighbours in Yishun got into a violent brawl that involved an iron rod — all because one of them felt "tortured" by the noise coming from his neighbour's unit. 

The man, surnamed Peng, told Shin Min Daily News then that he brought the iron rod to level the playing field, as his neighbour has three grown-up sons. 

He claimed he did not intend to beat his neighbour up with a weapon. 

"He beat me a few times before I fought back. His son also hit my stomach and stepped on my body," said the 72-year-old taxi driver. 

The neighbour, Guomin, countered that Peng used to throw rubbish into his unit, and would yell vulgarities at his family. 

"[Peng] walked to my unit after I told him to come if he had the guts," he said.

"I went out to reason with him, but I didn't expect to be attacked with an [iron rod]. I was caught off guard and could only block it with my hands."

As a result of their altercation, Peng was left with bruises and abrasions on his hands as well as abdominal pains, while Guomin broke his right hand and had to be put in a cast for two weeks.

ALSO READ: Brawl over brow: Teen customer and beautician get into fight over $15 refund

claudiatan@asiaone.com