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CNA
26 minutes ago
- CNA
Man gets jail for tapping bus driver's face with EZ-Link card
SINGAPORE: Drunk and upset that he had not alighted at his stop, a man made a scene on a public bus and tapped the driver's face with his EZ-Link card. Wilson Loh, 53, was sentenced to five weeks' jail and fined S$1,500 (US$1,168) on Monday (Jul 21) for offences committed over the entire episode. He pleaded guilty to one count of public nuisance and two counts of criminal force - by tapping the card on the bus driver's face and pushing the hand of a passenger who tried to intervene. A fourth charge was considered in sentencing. The court heard that Loh had drunk eight bottles of beer at a coffee shop in Commonwealth from 12pm on Mar 18 this year. At around 6pm, he left to head home and boarded bus 195, which was driven by the victim, 46-year-old bus captain Yin Xusheng. Loh intended to alight at the next bus stop. When the bus arrived at Loh's intended location, Mr Yin stopped the bus for the passengers to board and alight, but Loh did not alight. When the driver moved off, Loh approached him and accused him of not allowing him to alight. The bus driver explained that he had opened the exit door for passengers to alight. Unhappy, Loh used his EZ-Link card to tap the bus driver's face. This was an act of criminal force intended to cause annoyance and done without grave or sudden provocation, the court heard. On the way to the next bus stop, Loh made a scene on the bus, causing annoyance to the other passengers. At about 7pm the bus arrived at the stop with Loh still shouting. The bus driver stopped the vehicle and tried to explain matters to Loh, who refused to listen and disrupted the bus service. A 75-year-old passenger approached Loh in an attempt to calm him down, but Loh remained upset. He pushed the man's hand, causing him to drop his phone on the floor. The device was not damaged. A police report was made and Loh was arrested at about 8.20pm. The prosecution said Loh has a long history of convictions since 1989 but mentioned only the relevant ones. These include disorderly behaviour, snatch theft, a rash act and voluntarily causing hurt. Loh was given fines, jail terms and corrective training for these offences. His latest sentences were for two convictions in September 2024, for voluntarily causing hurt. He was given 12 and 14 weeks' jail respectively. The guilty plea nearly fell through when his bailor expressed her intention to discharge herself. She ultimately agreed to continue in her role after being persuaded by the accused In mitigation, Loh said through a Mandarin interpreter that he feels "agitated" when someone films him after receiving his fifth COVID-19 vaccine. "Because someone was filming me, so I just slapped his hand," he said. District Judge Eddy Tham told him that the problem was his self-intoxication. "You need to bear the consequences of your actions, because even though you may not have the intention or even remember exactly what happened, the fact is that if you drink yourself to that extent when you become less controlled ... then the fault ... really lies in yourself," he said. Loh admitted this was so. The judge continued that it does not matter to the victim if Loh had any intention to commit the offence or not, because the fact is that harm was caused. "If you really want to change, you need to do something about your drinking. Control your drinking so you don't behave that way, and if you can't control your drinking then you should really cease drinking," said Judge Tham. Loh agreed and said he did attend anger management sessions. He was allowed a deferment to attend ultrasound appointments. The case comes after new signs were placed on public transport to curb behaviour that poses a nuisance.
CNA
an hour ago
- CNA
Ride-hailing driver and Singaporean passenger die in Johor car crash
Scroll up for the next video X Ride-hailing driver and Singaporean passenger die in Johor car crash
CNA
an hour ago
- CNA
Jail, caning for man who cursed at NEA officers over discarded cigarette, tried to rob store wielding metal rod
SINGAPORE: A man cursed at National Environment Agency (NEA) officers after he discarded a lit cigarette then some months later tried to rob a cashier with a metal rod as he felt it was better to get arrested by the police. Chia Yin Xiang Harry, 26, was sentenced on Monday (Jul 21) to two-and-a-half years' jail and 12 strokes of the cane. Six strokes were for the attempted robbery with extortion, while the other six were for possessing a knuckleduster. He pleaded guilty to one charge each of attempted robbery, possession of a weapon and using abusive words against a public servant. Another two charges were taken into consideration. The court heard that Chia was outside Tiong Bahru Plaza on the morning of Aug 18, 2023. Two auxiliary police officers attached to NEA spotted Chia throwing a lit cigarette to the ground. This is an offence under the Environmental Public Health Act. The officers asked Chia for his identity card so they could check if he had committed any previous offence. Chia replied: "A lot of offence already, so you want (to) charge just charge la." One of the officers then printed out a notice requiring Chia to attend court and issued it to Chia, who said: "Do you think I got a lot of money to pay for this?" He then cursed, crushed the notice slip and threw it away in front of the officers. The officers tried to explain the situation to the accused, said the prosecutor. However, Chia pointed his middle finger at them and continued to curse. He remained uncooperative when told to calm down, and said: "You all every time check, check, check (vulgarity), you think smoking place easy to find ah." After cursing again, he left the scene and the officers lodged a police report. On Mar 14 last year, the police received a call about a man who had been spotted with a knuckleduster in Yishun. Officers deployed to Block 306, Yishun Central saw Chia with the weapon. He told them that he had it on him as he was not on good terms with his colleagues, who were allegedly gang members. He had arranged to meet them there over a work dispute. When the police got there, the supposed meeting had not taken place. Chia claimed that he had bought the weapon when he was 13 but could not remember where he purchased it from. ATTEMPTED ROBBERY A month after this on the night of Apr 13, 2024, Chia left his home to meet his friend at a Housing and Development Board block in Choa Chu Kang. They spent time together until 2am the next day before Chia realised he did not have enough money to buy cigarettes. He called his grandmother and asked her for money, but she refused to give it to him. "The accused felt that his grandmother did not care for him and it would be better for him if he got arrested by the police," said the prosecutor. He went to the UStars Convenience Store at Block 810B, Choa Chu Kang Avenue 7, at about 2.45am. He told the 53-year-old cashier that he had stolen a bottle of green tea from the store. The cashier told him that no action would be taken against him, if he returned the tea. Chia left the store only to return with a metal rod. He held it against the cashier's neck, demanding that he open the cash register to give him money. The cashier told him that he was unable to do so unless a purchase had been made. Chia then asked for money again, but the cashier told him there were closed-circuit television cameras all around the store. Chia responded that he did not care. The cashier eventually managed to convince Chia to leave, and a police report was made.
