Man jailed after setting fire to excavators belonging to ex-employer
Upset at his former company, the unemployed man targeted and set fire to its machinery.
He attempted to set fire to excavators at a construction site near Portsdown Road on four occasions last year, successfully destroying one beyond repair.
Yee Ching Hung, 42, was yesterday jailed for two years for starting several fires.
The Malaysian, who suffers from schizophrenia, was previously employed by Samwoh Corporation for about three years.
He claimed that he developed a disc desiccation and back pain while working at the company. He felt unhappy about that after he left and decided to target the company's excavators at the worksite and set them on fire to disrupt its operations.
Yee first targeted an excavator used at the site when it was left in an open field nearby on Aug 7 last year.
He was able to set the machine ablaze by placing a tree branch in the engine compartment and setting it aflame.
The fire destroyed the $100,000 machine.
He attempted to set fire to excavators at the construction site another three times on Oct 28, Nov 3 and Nov 18 last year but was unsuccessful.
Construction workers, who were being blamed for starting the fires to slack off, had set up a night watch to catch the culprit.
During their patrol on Nov 18, they saw Yee enter the site and meddle with the engine of the excavator. He ran when confronted but was later caught by the police.
PADLOCKED, SET FIRE TO DOOR
The court was also told that on Nov 6 last year, Yee had padlocked and set fire to the door of his uncle's home in the middle of the night.
He did so as he was angry with his uncle over a business matter.
When the uncle woke up to use the toilet at about 3am, he discovered that the main door was on fire and quickly put it out using two pails of water before contacting the authorities.
Yee was convicted of three charges of mischief by fire. Another six charges of criminal trespass, wrongful confinement and mischief by fire were also taken into consideration.
The six foreign workers who had been part of the night watch that caught Yee were given public spiritedness awards by the police last month.
They told the media then that all they wanted to do was clear their names so they could sleep in peace.
For each charge of mischief by fire, Yee could have been jailed up to seven years and fined.
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