Dressed down for vice, drunk sets fire to rice

A banteay Meanchey man, consumed by a booze-fuelled rage, took it out on the unlikeliest of victims on Thursday: his family’s own rice supply. Police said the 30-year-old had returned home from yet another bender only to be confronted by his disapproving father. Worked up by the dressing down, he set fire to 13 bags of rice. Quick-acting neighbours kept the blaze from spreading. Following his arrest, he confessed, saying he was too drunk to have known what he was doing. Nokorwat

Builder badly beaten by unknown assailants

A 23-year-old construction worker suffered severe head injuries on Saturday when he was violently attacked in Phnom Penh’s Por Sen Chey district. Police said the man was riding his motorbike to the construction site where he lived when he was jumped by a group of men armed with stones and wooden sticks. He was bludgeoned in the head and face before managing to run away and yell for help. The suspects escaped, and the victim was hospitalised. Police have suggested revenge as a motive. Kampuchea Thmey

Diverted rage leads to destroyed television

A DRUNKEN 39-year-old put the bang in Battambang on Friday when he destroyed his family’s television set. Police said the often-drunk husband was quarrelling with his wife when he turned his aggression to the television set after she told him she did not have their monthly rent money. Neighbours and the house owner intervened, and the inebriated suspect tried to attack them with a bar. The police were called, and the man was arrested. Kampuchea Thmey

Reckless moto driver sends four to hospital

Four students were critically injured on Friday after a nasty motorbike crash in Svay Rieng’s Svay Teab district. Police said a 22-year-old student was on his motorbike when another bike carrying three people collided with him at speed from behind. The 25-year-old driver of the other bike, his two friends, 18 and 19, and the 22-year-old all sustained injuries, including head wounds. Police blamed the 25-year-old’s recklessness for the crash. Kampuchea Thmey

Snack time the right time for thieves to snag moto

An unsuspecting young woman bit off more than she could chew at a Preah Sihanouk market on Friday when her motorbike was stolen as she was buying a snack. Two men, aged 27 and 32, were arrested the same day, and confessed to the crime, saying they were broke and jobless. The loot was returned, but the victim may think more carefully about where she parks the next time hunger strikes. Rasmey kampuchea

Translated by Phak Seangly