Siem Reap judge calls three to testify about attack on British man

via CAAI News Media

Friday, 05 March 2010 15:04 Peter Olszewski and Rann Reuy

Siem Reap Province

A SIEM Reap provincial court judge said this week that he had summoned three people to answer questions about an attack last month in which a British man was scalded with a boiling liquid.

On the night of January 10, after a series of domestic disputes with his Cambodian wife, David Thomas Old, a resident of Siem Reap, was attacked in his home, sustaining first- and second-degree burns and the loss of his sight.

Deputy Chief Mok Sam On of the Siem Reap city police said the attack occurred following an argument between the 61-year-old and his wife, 40-year-old Sut Sina, who live in Sla Kram commune’s Banteay Chas village.

“Domestic violence often erupts in that family,” Mok Sam On said.

Sut Sina was charged with causing intentional injury and is being held in pretrial detention.

Judge Nguon Nara said he had summoned Sut Sina, as well as her nephew, who is suspected of being one of the attackers, and the victim, who is receiving treatment in the UK. The trio have been asked to appear in court on March 10.

“This case is very difficult because we do not know if the victim’s side can come to give testimony or not, and where is the attacker?” Nguon Nara said. “We are also finding it difficult to determine what kind of liquid the attacker used because he left nothing on site.”

A friend of Old’s in Siem Reap, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Old was in serious but stable condition in a UK hospital.

“We believe he has first- and second-degree burns to about 60 percent of his body, and that he’s been blinded,” he said.

“There is a good chance that he may get about 85 percent of his sight back, but he will need a series of operations over about 10 months,” he added.

The friend said that Old had received no help from the British embassy in Phnom Penh, but that he had been aided by the British embassy in Bangkok, where he travelled for treatment shortly after the attack.

“The British embassy in Bangkok sent a letter of concern to Cambodian authorities about the case,” the friend said.

A spokeswoman for the British embassy in Phnom Penh declined to comment on the case, citing the person’s right to privacy.