Dancefloor battle gets real in Pursat province

Four drunk men came close to committing murder on the dance floor on Friday when they began swinging an axe at a couple of partygoers in Pursat’s Krakor dictrict. Their victims, both in their early 20s, had previously argued with the gang, who took the gripe too far, lunging at the head of one and hacking into the neck of the other, who had tried to intervene. The badly injured men fell to the floor while the hot-headed party-poopers rode off into the night. Police are still searching for the suspects. Kampuchea Thmey

Backsliding ex-con gets busted again

An ex-con appears to have gone back to his old ways, say police in Siem Reap, who rai-ded the man’s hotel room for drugs on Saturday. Police observed the suspect’s comings and goings in Cambodia’s number-one tourist town, before entering his hotel and finding two small packages of yama. Two alleged accomp-lices, also with less than honourable records, had been arrested for stealing motorbikes. Kampuchea Thmey

Cops pick up muddy rice farmer for fighting dirty

A muddy farming spat – or rather, a splat – came to a head on Thursday when a 36-year-old rice farmer allegedly attacked a 55-year-old woman after an argument over dirt. The suspect and the woman were working in neighbouring rice paddies when soil from the man’s dyke tipped over into the woman’s field. The woman and her daughter abused the messy farmer, who responded by knocking the mother in the head with a stick. The man fled, but was arrested soon afterwards. Koh Santepheap

Cold case comes calling for mobile-phone thief

A mobile-phone thief who robbed a woman at knifepoint three years ago undoubtedly thought he had got away with his crime. But, the 27-year-old worker’s past came back to haunt him on Saturday, when he was spotted by police, who identified him as a wanted man and put him under arrest. The man was sent back to the Phnom Penh Municipal Court, which had issued a warrant for his arrest back in 2009. Case closed. Nokorwat

Jealous beau cuts in on dance – with a cleaver

A man who unwittingly stood on a lover’s toes at a dance learned just how much love hurts – especially when a cleaver’s involved. The 24-year-old victim was dancing with a girl at a party in Phnom Penh’s Sen Sok district, sparking the jealousy of the girl’s cleaver-wielding boyfriend. The boyfriend stepped in, hacking at his head, hand and leg. The victim was hospitalised in critical condition. The attacker is still at large. Koh Santepheap

Translated by Phak Seangly