The victim's father testified about how his son, bleeding profusely, asked him to help look for the piece of flesh on the road.

File photo of the State Courts.

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Ronald Koh, a 36-year-old Singaporean, conducted his own cross-examination of the victim's father and claimed that the father might have bitten off his son's ear instead.

He also claimed that the father-son duo, who had been in a car prior to the altercation, had taken turns to attack him.

Koh is on trial for two charges - first for biting off part of Mr Fabian Quak Wei Quan's ear, and second for hitting Mr Quak Beng Gim's back and stepping on his foot.

The offences allegedly took place on the left road shoulder of the PIE towards Changi after the Sims Way exit at about 2pm on Feb 26, 2024.

Mr Quak Beng Gim, 63, took the stand for the prosecution and testified in Mandarin about how he was driving in the fourth lane of the road and filtering into the third lane.

He heard a van next to him sound its horn at Koh's motorcycle, which he claimed then cut into his lane.

Mr Quak said he sounded his horn at the motorcyclist, who gestured with his hands to him.

"I wanted to go straight towards Changi. The motorcyclist kept gesturing at me," said Mr Quak.

He said his son, who is in his 20s, wound down the front passenger window and asked the motorcyclist what he wanted.

Mr Quak said there seemed to be a verbal dispute and that his son said vulgarities to the motorcyclist, who seemed to be very angry while waving his hand.

Mr Quak said the motorcyclist signalled him to stop, and he was "very nervous", so he pulled over on the road shoulder.

He described a scuffle between his son and Koh. The pair fell onto a grass patch, pushing each other, he said.

"I stood there for a while, then I ran over to both of them and my son told me the accused bit his ear," said Mr Quak.

He said he asked his son to let go of Koh, who tried to run away.

Mr Quak said he and his son then grabbed hold of Koh to stop him from leaving.

Asked by Deputy Public Prosecutor Dillon Kok to describe his son's injury, Mr Quak said he was bleeding profusely.

"I asked the accused whether he wanted to continue fighting. He didn't reply. He was silent, so we let go of him," said Mr Quak.

He said he had to stop and take his son to the hospital as he was bleeding profusely.

"He asked me to retrieve his ear flesh, so both my son and I went over," said Mr Quak.

In response to the judge's questioning, the Mandarin interpreter clarified that this was not an "earlobe" as previously interpreted but "ear flesh", referring to the middle part of the ear instead.

Mr Quak said his son found the piece of ear flesh on the road near a small drain and wrapped it in tissue paper.

They then headed to Ng Teng Fong General Hospital.

When questioned by the prosecutor as to why they decided to go to a hospital so far away, Mr Quak said: "Because my house was there. Because (my son's) spectacles were totally crushed (in the fight) so I went home to take (another) pair for him."

Mr Quak said it was chaotic at the time and did not know he had been punched until he got home and his wife discovered a bruise on his torso.

He said Koh also must have stepped on his foot, as it was swollen afterwards.

Koh, whose lawyers had discharged themselves, conducted the cross-examination with many interjections from the judge who explained the procedure to him repeatedly.

Addressing Mr Quak and sometimes referring to himself in third person, Koh asked if Mr Quak remembered the "dangerous operation" of his car.

"Do you remember speeding up when you noticed my signal, and tailgating my motorcycle from behind?" asked Koh.

Mr Quak said he did not.

"You made a four-lane cross to the left shoulder?" asked Koh.

Mr Quak again said he did not.

"Did you have an uncivil intent to solve the situation when you approached Ronald?" asked Koh, referring to himself.

Mr Quak said he did not.

Mr Quak said that during the incident he had asked Koh in Hokkien: "What you want to do?"

"I see," responded Koh in court. "So you engaged in the assault of Ronald Koh?"

Koh alleged that the video evidence submitted was edited, and questioned why Mr Quak had turned off his in-car camera when stepping out of the car.

Mr Quak exclaimed that it turned off automatically when the engine was off.

"The evidence was edited. There was falsifying of evidence," alleged Koh. "Why not prove the path of travel from when you met this motorcyclist. If not, why did we end up there?"

He claimed that he had not gestured to Mr Quak to pull over.

"It doesn't make sense to me that (you are) focusing on the situation of meeting me, without letting us know how and why you wanted to meet this motorcyclist, because I did not ask you to stop. There's no way that a motorcyclist with two hands can ask you to stop," said Koh.

"I put it forth to you that I did not touch you at all. You punched me in the face, you tore off my visor and you ripped off my jacket together with your son," said Koh.

He added that there was a photograph showing a cut on his upper lip.

"You also said - 'no one is getting out of this alive'," said Koh.

"Do you recall the final part where I held your throat and Mr Fabian's wrist?" asked Koh.

Mr Quak said he did not.

When the judge raised the point about the piece of ear flesh that was allegedly bitten off, asking if he had done that, Koh said to Mr Quak: "I think you might have done that, but I couldn't have done that."

When asked directly if he had bitten the ear off, Koh said: "I'm sorry but I do not think that I am the one who bit off the ear intentionally."

He said Mr Quak was pushing and shoving him and he was "half-blind in the middle of the scuffle".

"There were gouging of my eyes and pushing of appendages into my mouth while in the scuffle," said Koh. "I was half-blind so I bit down on everything they stuffed into my mouth."

"What do you mean by appendages?" asked the judge.

"I can't confirm but the ear might have been one of it. The finger, and I think, the gouging of my eyes too. During that moment in the middle. As if I could take note of everything while half-blind," said Koh. "I had no choice but to keep shoving them away and they keep taking turns to come at me."

If convicted of causing grievous hurt by biting off a piece of Mr Quak's son's ear, Koh could be jailed for up to 10 years and fined or caned.

If convicted of voluntarily causing hurt to Mr Quak, Koh could be jailed for up to three years, fined up to S$5,000, or both.

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