Man, 72, set fire to flat of brother who inherited all of their late father's money and wouldn't give him any
Shaffiq Alkhatib
The Straits Times
March 11, 2025
Upset at being left out of his late father's purported inheritance, an elderly man used a metal pole to assault his younger brother after the latter refused to give him any money.
Hoe San Peng was still angry more than a year after the assault, when he torched the front door and living room of his sibling's flat.
The 72-year-old man was sentenced to a year and 11 months' jail on March 11. He had pleaded guilty to offences including assault and committing mischief by fire.
In 2021, the father of the two men sold his flat and moved in with the victim, 68.
When the father died in March 2023, Hoe expected an inheritance.
Instead, he found out that his younger brother was the sole recipient of the proceeds from the sale of the flat, while he did not receive anything.
Court documents did not disclose if their father bequeathed any inheritance.
Hoe, who did not attend his father's funeral, went to his brother's home the following month to confront him about the purported inheritance.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Dillon Kok said: "When his attempt at getting money from the victim was rebuffed, (Hoe) angrily smashed a wooden chair that was outside the unit and shattered some window louvres of the unit."
However, the victim did not lodge a police report as he did not want his older brother to get into trouble with the law.
In June 2023, Hoe went to the flat again to confront the victim and used a metal pole to smash more window louvres.
He also threatened to assault the victim, who lodged a police report.
The prosecutor said Hoe continued to harass his sibling even after he was called up for investigations.
At around 5pm on Nov 13, 2023, Hoe armed himself with a metal pole, went to the block of flats where the victim lived and waited for him to return home.
The younger man was on his way home about an hour later when Hoe rushed towards him.
Although one of the victim's neighbours tried to intervene, "the accused managed to hit the victim once on the left side of his face with the metal pole... (and) continued his assault of the victim... punching the victim repeatedly", the DPP said.
The neighbour eventually pulled Hoe off the victim, who ran away and called his son for help.
Hoe left the scene soon after, and the victim's son alerted the police to the assault.
The victim later went to a polyclinic, where he was found with injuries including an abrasion on his left cheek and a bruised right hand.
Still unhappy, Hoe decided to set fire to his brother's flat on Jan 28, 2025.
He filled three plastic bottles with a mixture of petrol and diesel and drove a lorry to the victim's home shortly before 3.40pm that day.
The victim and his son were at home when Hoe arrived and threw one of the bottles into the living room, and started a fire.
Hoe also struck the flat's windows repeatedly with a crowbar he had brought along.
The prosecutor said: "He shouted at the victim that he would continue to look for him. The accused then left the scene."
The victim and his son managed to put out the fire with pails of water. They called the police for assistance and officers arrested Hoe later that evening.
DPP Kok said the fire damaged the unit's entrance, front door, gate and living room floor.
The cost of damage cannot be ascertained for now as the victim has not started repairs. He is hesitant to do so as he believes his brother would look him up again and cause further damage.
DPP Kok urged the court to sentence Hoe to a year and 11 months' jail on March 11, adding: "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."
The prosecutor also stressed that the potential harm of Hoe's acts was amplified by the fact that he had started the blaze in a Housing Board flat.
Given its proximity to other units, the fire could have spread and caused devastating damage, the court heard.
